The Imperative

 The Imperative

Beginnings.  In the beginning, God.  He comes first.  In the beginning, God created.  All things are from Him.  And they are so good, because He is so good.  So I trust Him and love Him with all of my heart.  And His Spirit is on the move, always moving even in darkest times, the deepest valleys.  He is hovering, watching over us.  So I can trust Him with every area and in every season of my life.  God speaks - He creates everything out of nothing, has given us all good things to enjoy, and has given us His Word as a feast for our soul.  So I want to learn to devote myself to feasting on His Word.  And last week we saw that at the beginning of the Church, those first followers of Jesus were devoting themselves both to the Word of Christ and to their brothers and sisters in Christ, to one another, sharing and going deep with one another.  They couldn’t wait to be together.  There was this oneness, this community, this now uncommon unity - it was addictive, and oh so attractive.  People were flocking to be a part of this community and a big part of it was this spirit of common unity which the Lord was fostering among them as they spent time together and shared pretty much everything with one another.  So we all want to devote ourselves to this thing which we have actually been taught to do since kindergarten, if not earlier, and that is sharing.  Sharing our lives, sharing our stuff to help meet needs.

We’re going to wait to look at the third area of devotion, the breaking of the bread, going to save it for the next time, when we will actually be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together.  And today we will focus on the fourth thing to which they were devoted.  Luke tells us that they were continually devoting themselves to prayer.

Acts 2:43-44 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles…

A couple of quick observations.  First, prayer is mentioned last.  In koine Greek, word sequence conveys emphasis.  Means something in English word order.  To understanding it is important.  If change the order of my words I do, difficult to understand will I be.  Unless Yoda you are.  But in the Greek, you have a lot more freedom as to where you put your words, all the verbs and subjects and objects, etc.  The things which you put first and last in the sentence often communicate what you want to emphasize.  Priority.  And in this verse, prayer is literally the very last word in the sentence.  It is last, but not at all least.  It is in the place of emphasis.  It is almost as if Luke is saying that the believers were devoting themselves to these several things, and most importantly, they were devoting themselves to prayer.  Prayer was imperative.  In fact, the apostles say so themselves just a few chapters later:

Acts 6:4  “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

At this point they have narrowed their priorities down to just these two things.  One is mentioned first, the other last - they are emphasizing both.  But by no means does this mean that we leave the ministry of prayer up to the professionals.  All God’s people are to devote themselves to prayer.

Colossians 4:2   BE DEVOTING yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

What do you think it looks like to be devoted to prayer?  Time, and desire.  Time spent talking to God.  In private, & with other believers.  How much time?  Lots of it.  Paul says praying without ceasing.  It’s like there is an ongoing conversation with God.  We talk to Him about everything.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God.  James said be constantly praying for one another.  Jesus Christ Himself, the eternal Son of God, never out of fellowship with the Father, never out of the will of His Father, would often slip away into the wilderness to pray (Lk 5.16).  Often.  Praying often.  Without ceasing.  

How about desire?  David talks about how there is this fulness of joy in the presence of the Lord, how one day in God’s presence is better than a thousand anywhere else.  A thousand times better.  Is that how we feel about prayer?  Is our experience of talking with God, is our heart for prayer, such that we see it as being a thousand times better than anything else we can do?  How about even just 10 times better?  Or maybe even just twice as good?  How about even just being on par with all the other things to which we give our hearts?  Seriously, where would we rank it on our joy meter, on a scale of 1 to 10?  David would give it a thousand.

What would it take, what will it take for us to be(come) devoted to prayer?  I wonder, I wonder if we must not realize just Who we are talking about talking to… To Whom we are speaking?  And how much we need Him?  Because we can measure our degree of dependence on the extent of our praying.  If we truly believe that apart from Him there is nothing we can do, and that unless He builds the house we labor in vain, then we will be expressing that in prayer.  Prayer will be imperative.  It is said that there are few things which can bring forth more cries of disappointment and self-criticism than to ask believers about their prayer life.  How’s your prayer life?

Can we shoot straight for a bit?  Let’s be honest.  Wouldn’t most believers - if they were honest - probably put prayer somewhere in the vicinity of a visit to the dentist and a stop at the ATM?  Isn’t that kind of how we see it?  It’s good for us, so we do it semi-regularly, sort of on an as-needed basis?  When we run out of cash, when we’re in a pinch, we’ll make a quick stop and get just enough to tide us over.  Not too much.  Wilbur Rees captured it perfectly:

"I would like to buy $3 worth of God please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 dollars worth of God please."

Why would we even want to be devoted to prayer?  Maybe we should answer that question.  I do think we maybe don’t realize Who we are talking to.  That all things really are from Him and through Him.  And how great is the power and potential of this heavenly office.  Oh Lord, have mercy.  Open our eyes to see the wonders of You!

But so, let’s make some observations about Prayer in this passage, and in the early church…

<Power>

Immediately after Luke mentions prayer here, he mentions the amazing things God was doing in their midst.  How God’s power was so apparent, so on display, that everyone was constantly filled with this sense of awe.  This kind of phobos, or fear.  It was kinda scary!  Raw power is that way, isn’t it?  Here’s a question - have you ever seen God’s power unleashed in a way which was a bit scary?  We see it in creation - hurricanes, trees falling.  The ocean.  Lightning.

Acts 12:1-6   Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

The early church didn’t have enough influence to get Peter out of prison, but their prayers had enough power to bust him out…  I don’t think it was a coincidence that God’s people were praying, and God’s power was displaying.  When we pray, “coincidences” happen.   Prayer has been called the tiny nerve which moves the mighty muscle of God’s omnipotence.  The key to miracles.  

<Often>

Acts 1:14  These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Acts 3:1   Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

Now, why were they going up to the temple?  To pray, of course.  Three times daily - that was the Jewish custom.

Dan. 6:10   Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.

Often.  I think the original intent was to inject prayer into the normal daily business of living.  A built-in reminder to focus on the Lord and to depend on Him throughout each and every day.

I love what we see at the end of Acts Chapter 4.  The apostles have been arrested for speaking out about Jesus, and they have been threatened and ordered to cease and desist.  And what do they do?  As soon as they are released, what is their first response?

Acts 4:23-31  “And now, Lord, TAKE NOTE of their threats, and GRANT that Your bond-servants {may} speak Your Word with all confidence…”

They go back and pray!  Talk about “first responders” - surely this should be our first response, shouldn’t it?  Prayer.  And how would you describe their praying here?  Look at the confidence in their praying!  Note their grammar.  In what "mood" are they praying?  They are praying in the imperative mood (for all you grammar buffs) - more on that in a bit.

And actually - the NASB gets it wrong here.  Which doesn't happen very often.  But there is no may-be here in the Greek.  No “may speak" with all confidence.  It should read like this:

“And now, Lord, TAKE NOTE of their threats, and GIVE to Your bond-servants to be speaking Your Word with all boldness…”

And you know what happened?  It says they did begin to speak the word with boldness.

<Confidence>

-So there was power in their praying.  And they prayed often.  And thirdly, they prayed with Confidence.  They were speaking God’s Word with confidence, yes, but they were also praying with confidence!  Look at the prayers of God’s people all through the Bible, and what we see is confidence.  Over and over again.  The language of confidence.  Audacity even!

Moses - “I pray You (please) - SHOW me Your glory.” (Exodus 33.18)  Most audacious!

Elijah - 1Kings 18:35-37 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today LET IT BE KNOWN that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. ANSWER me, O LORD, ANSWER me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”  Bold audacity.

How about in The Lord’s Prayer (how Jesus taught us to pray) - 

Matthew 6:9-13   

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, 

HALLOWED be Your name.

Your kingdom COME.

Your will BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven.

GIVE us this day our daily bread.

And FORGIVE us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And DO NOT LEAD us into temptation, but DELIVER us from evil.” 

There is no mamby pamby maybe/could/would language in that prayer.  It is bold.  Lord - do this.

Jesus’ great high priestly prayer in John 17 - “Father, GLORIFY Your Son.  GLORIFY Me together with Yourself.  KEEP these men in Your name.  SANCTIFY them in the truth.”

I think we could classify these prayers - prayers by the people who know their God - as audacious.  Bordering on presumption.  But it works because the expectation and earnest desire is for God to fulfill His promise and to show His glory.  God’s people can and should take bold risks when it comes to God showing off His glory.

Let us take a tangent to consider the grammar.  I know - another grammar lesson.  But this is critical.  We mentioned the last couple of weeks about the future indicative - which is the language of expectation.  Indicative (mood) is talking about fact, whether in the present, or even the future.  With God, even the future is guaranteed.  Future indicative is a given.  Indicative is the language of actuality, reality.

The mood we look at today is the imperative.  It is the title of this message.  When we think of the imperative, we think of a command, but the imperative mood exists in the realm of possibility, alongside the subjunctive and optative moods.  There are no guarantees.  The moods of possibility look like this:

Michaela you may clean your room. (optative)

Sean, should/could/would you clean your room? (subjunctive)

Joshko, (please) clean your room. (imperative)

You may/might have a cookie (if you clean your room)

You should/could/would have a cookie (if you clean your room)

Have a cookie.

May I have a cookie?

Could I have a cookie?

Give me a cookie.

Note that with each of these there is no guarantee, only a possibility of eventuality, in varying degrees.  Even with the imperative, there is always the possibility that the subject will choose to NOT comply with the command.  Every parent in here knows that a child’s heart is an imperative just waiting to be disobeyed.  Every heart is like that, apart from Christ.  My heart is like that.  Obviously, failure to comply could very likely lead to some consequences - in fact, we can use the future indicative with that: there WILL be consequences for non-compliance.  Guaranteed.  But the important point to remember - because we are about to apply this to our praying - is that even with the imperative the recipient always has a choice.  Always.  They always have the freedom to respond, to comply with the request, or not.

But so let’s look back at these prayers.  Every single one of them - what do they have in common?  Did you notice?  What kind of “mood” are they in?  In what mood are they praying?  God’s people, praying in the imperative mood.  Often.  Praying with confidence.  And is there anything more audacious than giving the God of the universe an imperative?  Because how does it feel when you get an imperative?  It feels rude and bossy to get an imperative from a peer, from a friend, much less a subordinate.  How rude.  Presumptuous.  Yet this is precisely how Jesus taught us to pray…!

Now while we are on this grammar tangent, let us consider the following request:

Dad, I just pray that you would give me a cookie.

I have two observations with this.  First of all, who talks like that?  I mean, to another person.  But have you ever noticed that almost all Christians talk to God like this?  Why is this?  Seriously.  How is it that we have come to use this kind of language when talking to our Father in heaven?  Because again, there is nowhere else in our society where anyone ever talks like this.  Not to a real live person.  I think for many of us, we aren’t even aware that we are using this language when we pray.  We just start using the same language that we hear everyone else using in prayer.  "I just pray that...  I just pray that..."  We don't speak like that in any other context, we don't even know why we are speaking like that.  It becomes meaningless.  But I don’t even think that is the most important concern here.  Because second - what is the mood in that request?  It is the subjunctive.  One could just as easily say, Dad, would you give me a cookie?  This way we have eliminated the meaningless repetition.  But even this is not at all how Jesus taught us to pray.  I wonder if for some, we slide into the use of the subjunctive because perhaps we do lack some confidence when it comes to praying and asking the Lord…?  We maybe hesitate a bit, because we don’t want to seem like we are “ordering” the Lord.  We don’t want to “presume” (unlike those we see in Scripture).  But again, the imperative is not strictly an order.  Part of it involves heart and tone.  The imperative does not obligate the hearer in any way, nor is it about arrogance or superiority per se.  It is the language of confidence.

Those early believers were devoting themselves to prayer - and I think part of it was that they had this incredible confidence, that God heard their prayers, and that He was going to answer them.

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:19   Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus…

1John 5:14-15  This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

2Corinthians 3:4   Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.

James 1:5-8   But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Expectation.  Audacity!  Presumption, yes - taking God at His Word, and expecting Him to fulfill His promises and show off His glory.  So, Confidence.  Look at the confidence Jesus seeks to inspire in His would-be supplicants:

Matthew. 7:7-11   “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

Matthew 18:19   “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 21:22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

John 14:13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

What do you notice?  Future indicative.  Future fact.  Promises which are guaranteed, take 'em to the bank.  Whenever Jesus talks about prayer, His language seems to err on the side of that which is limitless!  Whatever you ask.  All things.  Confidence inspired.

One quick note about praying in the name of Jesus.  Our confidence is not in some grammatical mood.  It is grounded in the character and promises of God Himself, Who has tied access to His gracious promises and resources to the person of His Son.  We have no claim on the Lord apart from trusting believing faith in Jesus.  "Whatever you ask IN MY NAME", Jesus said.

Now, does this mean that God always complies with our requests?  That there is maybe some magic formula or secret passcode which unlocks unlimited yes answers to prayer?  Like a genie in a bottle?  Hardly.  Sometimes God says no.  Or wait.  He is free to do that of course - even with the imperative.  I think what we’re talking about is coming to our glorious loving Father in heaven, through Jesus, asking in His Name, confidently, often(!), but directly, in full assurance, and freely telling Him what’s on our hearts, asking Him for whatever - and all the while we do our best by the aid of His Spirit to remember those things which we are CONFIDENT that He wants and which He has promised in His Word.  And coming in confidence means that we ask in the imperative.  

Example: Give us our daily bread.  That is an imperative.  And we can pray that in total confidence because of course He has told us to pray for that.  God give me a million dollars.  Is that on the menu?  Well, He might choose to say yes to that, but His Word tells us only that He will supply all of our NEEDS.  So unless we have a bona fide NEED for a million dollars, we don’t have anywhere near the same level of confidence to ask for that.  But how about this - Lord, give me wisdom.  Total confidence.  Because God tells us in His Word that if any of us lacks wisdom to ask HIM because He gives wisdom generously.  How about, Lord, fill me with Your Spirit.  Again, total confidence, because He commands us to be filled, which only He can do, so we know that is what He wants.  How about, God be glorified and show Your power through <the Journey> and open people’s hearts to believe in Your Son.  I feel pretty good about that one.  How about, Lord, please provide $9000 for a new air conditioning unit for our children’s wing.  I feel pretty good about that, since it is a need (esp in a place like Texas).  How about, Lord please sell our home back in Fort Worth!  I feel pretty good about that one, too.  Now, the timing of some of these - that’s often where we get into lessons in patience, since God’s timing is not always the same as ours.  We would prefer to sell our house sooner rather than later - but in the meantime He is providing our family with a place to live here in Longview.  And He's throwing in an extra side of patience to go with it!

But so, a couple of thoughts when it comes to our words in prayer.  Begin by remembering and acknowledging the One to Whom you are talking.  “Our Father…” “Lord (Master)”  “Hallowed be Your Name…”  He is good, but He is not safe…!  Now, you might want to try and catch yourself when you start to use the phrase, “I pray that…” “I just pray that…”  “I just ask that…”  As soon as you use that phrase, you are about to (unconsciously?) enter the realm of the subjunctive.  A subjunctive mood.  Having said that, the other thought is this - God knows your heart, and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart.  He wants you to approach His throne of grace with confidence!  Because of and through Jesus.  

In the end, my heart in saying all this is, one, to encourage each of us to consider our heart in prayer, to encourage each of us to approach the Lord in prayer with greater confidence.  But more than that, just to pray.  By all means, pray.  And pray often.  For most of us, that means, pray more.  Pray is not just preparation for work - it IS work.  Prayer is the one work which every believer can and should and must do.  Because there is no work more important, more imperative to the success of the mission.  When God’s people pray, coincidences happen.  For some reason, God answers the prayers of His people.  He moves in response to the prayers of His people.  Was He always going to move anyways?  That’s beyond the scope of this particular message - but I do know for certain that sometimes we do not have because we do not ask (James 4.2).

What does this look like for Hope Fellowship?  Those early believers were devoting themselves to prayer, and so should we:

Colossians 4:2   BE DEVOTING yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

What does devoting ourselves to prayer look like at Hope Fellowship?  One of the most encouraging things for Jen and I in coming to be a part of this church family is the emphasis on prayer…  Prayer for one another.  Prayer for what God is doing and for what He wants to do in our midst.  Prayer for what He is doing among the nations, to the ends of the earth.  We begin our Sundays with prayer.  Maybe you weren’t aware of that?  We gather again in the middle of the week to pray - do you know about that?  My prayer is that in these, and for each of us individually, that we will find the grace to excel still more.  That we will find the grace to slip away often to pray.  To pray increasingly about whatever - with confidence, bold audacious reverent confidence, that we will be growing in our confidence to boldly approach God’s glorious throne of amazing grace to find grace and power and wisdom and comfort and peace in our times of need and in all the rest.  For His glory - because all things are from Him, and all things are through Him, and all things are for Him… Because in the end THAT is the greatest imperative.