“The Lord of Discipline”
Christian Disciplines
Disciplined Prayer
Ezra 8:21-23; James 5:13-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
How can I improve my prayer life?
Exercise Humility (Ezra 8:21-23); Dependence on God
Develop Consistency (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; James 5:13-14)
Focus on Faith (James 5:15-16a)
Practice Righteousness (James 16b-18)
Humility, Consistency, Faith and Righteousness characterize effective prayer in the lives of three Biblical
leaders, Ezra, Paul and James.
What are some reasons that prevent believers from praying consistently?
Communication is the key to strong relationships in all areas of our lives, marriage, parents and children,
friends and co-workers. The same is true in our relationship with God. If we want to have a strong
relationship, we must learn to communicate with Him. Prayer must be a priority in our lives (not just a last
resort).
1.
EXERCISE HUMILITY (Ezra 8:21-23) Dependence on God
What are some preparations involved in making a journey?
Read the subject scripture. Judah and Jerusalem were conquered and the Babylonians destroyed the
temple. The leaders and educated citizens were taken into captivity in Babylon. When the captivity ended,
The Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. Ezra (the
Lord helps), a Scribe and priest skilled in the Law of Moses was to lead this group. The King of Babylon
gave them gold, silver, food and animals to be used reconstruction and sacrificial offerings. Ezra not only
made physical preparations for the trip, he made spiritual preparations as well.
Scan the verses and identify Ezra’s spiritual preparations: prayer and fasting. Fasts are spiritual exercises
of doing without food (physical needs) in order to acknowledge that the spiritual is more important.
2 key elements of fasting are: attitude and prayer(v-21)
2 objectives of their fasts: humble themselves before God to confirm their continuous need for His
provisional care (dependence on Him), and pray for a safe journey and for protection.
How did Ezra view God’s role in this journey?
God would be their provider and protector. In verse 22, we find that Ezra’s testimony(dependence on God)
overpowered his personal opinion (he most likely would have preferred a military escort like Nehemiah
would have some 13 years later).
This dependence on God portrays their attitude of humility. Their prayer was based on their faith
relationship to God. Real prayer is always a humble expression faith based on God’s ability and our
dependence on Him. Practically however, we must not waste any resources God has made available to us.
In other words, pray for protection and use all our resources to assist God; praise the Lord and pass the
ammunition attitude.
We must insure that our prayers are not arrogant, praying for God to do what, when and how we want.
Prayer is not about getting what we want; prayer is about getting what God wants.
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2.
DEVELOP CONSISTENCY (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; James 5:13-14)
Read the above passages and search for words that indicate a consistent prayer life: evermore (always),
without ceasing, everything, in affliction, in happy times, and in sickness.
In what circumstances or under what conditions do these passages indicate Christians should pray? All
If you are a Christian, prayer in not an option; it is a command! Some of our prayer lives are like that of an
amateur golfer. Occasionally he makes a great shot, but consistency is the key to winning the game (that
and a very long drive).
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (FYI: In this passage, we find three specific, cut and dry commands that are
God’s will for you.)
Rejoice evermore (v-16): Rejoice always! Many of us sag under the circumstances. We try to tell
ourselves that when things get straightened out in our lives then we will be more consistent. Circumstances
will never be perfect. John 16:33 says “In the world ye shall have tribulation”. The rejoicing and joy of
the Christian is from within not without. It is produced by an intimate relationship with Christ, not the
ever-changing circumstances of this world. That is how Paul could rejoice in spite of his suffering and
imprisonment (Philippians).
Pray without ceasing (v-17): Pray constantly, what does that really mean? We are not to turn our backs on
God when we leave the place of prayer. We need to live with constant awareness of His presence.
However, just having this awareness does not take the place of our regular prayer time.
In everything give thanks (v-18): Let me first point out in this verse that Paul says in everything give
thanks not for everything. In faith, we can thank God in every situation. We can express our gratitude to
Him knowing that all things work together for good according to His purpose. His purpose is to conform us
to the image of Christ (God’s will for each of us) (Romans 8:28-29). This process can be compared to the
pruning of a vine. A living part of the vine is cut away, not for the sake of promoting pain and suffering
but for promoting further growth and development of the vine.
James 5:13-14
What three conditions, experienced by all of us, does James site in the above passage?
Affliction (v-13): Suffering or any type of hardship. Like in the case of Ezra, true prayer will produce a
response from God. Like the words of a recent song, “sometimes He calms the storm; other times He
calms His child”. In other words, sometimes He changes the circumstances, and other times He changes
our attitude so that we can cope with them. A blessing often follows tragedy.
Merry (v-13): Cheerful – self-explanatory. Don’t neglect your prayer life when things are going well.
Sickness (v-14): Illnesses have many causes: self-inflicted, natural, ect…but the end result is the same.
When we are sick we need help.
3.
FOCUS ON FAITH (James 5:15-16a)
Read text.
What did James say was the result of praying with Faith? The sick would be healed.
How might this result as well as this passage be misunderstood?
God’s way of healing may not be what we expect. Therefore, if the result of prayer differs from our
expectation, we might come to an inaccurate conclusion:
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God’s word is unreliable and he doesn’t keep His word.
If one comes to this conclusion, their faith has obviously wavered (Js 1:6). We must keep in mind that our
ways are not His ways; our timing is not His timing. He is faithful and keeps His word, not our
expectations.
Those who were praying lacked faith.
Consider Paul. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, Paul was given a thorn (affliction) allowed by God to keep him
from becoming conceited. Paul prayed three times to be healed and God’s answer was NO. Who can
question Paul’s Faith?
All illness is due to a particular persons sin.
In 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 it is revealed that some sickness is due to God’s judgment on a person’s sin;
but, not all. In John 9:1-3 we see that God allows sickness so that He can be glorified and manifest his
mighty works in this case, the miracle of healing.
How does one know if his prayer is offered in faith?
The FOCUS of all prayer should be on God, His power, purposes, and praiseworthiness.
God’s Power: Notice in verse 15, “the Lord will raise him up”, not the prayers that were offered. Our
faith should be in God’s power nothing else. We must believe, without doubt that God has the power to
answer our prayer.
God’s Purposes: The focus of proper prayer should be on the Lord and His purposes, not on the one
praying or even the one who is sick. We can ask God for “anything, according to His will” (1 John 5:14)
with confidence, knowing that He will hear us and answer us. The key, God’s will not our will.
God’s Praiseworthiness: Prayer is part of God’s process, a process in which God reveals His Glory and
power. By answering prayers offered to Him in Faith, The Lord is glorified. If we don’t pray, or pray
selfishly, He can’t be glorified. Examples:
David’s Prayer – 1 Chronicles 29:10-11
The resurrection of Lazarus – John 11:4, 40
4.
PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS (James 5:16b-18)
Read the text.
How does James describe the prayer of a righteous man? It is effective, powerful, and it availeth much.
James gives us an example of a righteous man’s prayer; Elijah’s prayer (see 1 Kings 17) that withheld the
rain for 3 ½ years.
Look closely at verse 17. What does James say about Elijah that should be encouraging to us? He, Elijah,
was a man just like us!! This kind of powerful prayer is possible for anyone.
Now let us look at the word Righteousness.
What does it mean to be a righteous man? Upon salvation, we receive God’s righteousness. It is not from
our efforts (Romans 10:10; Philippians 3:9). If you are a Christian, you are righteous through imputed
righteousness.
Let us now look at the relationship between prayer and righteous living:
Do you think a Christian living a lifestyle that does not reflect God’s righteousness will have an effective
prayer life? Absolutely not.
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1 Timothy 6:11 tells us, God expects us to practice righteousness and seek a Godly life and character.
Often, during prayer, God will reveal sin and unrighteousness in our lives. We should deal with it
immediately. Why? Psalms 66:18 says “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me…” Sin
in our lives hinders our communication with God. If we want an encounter with God we must be aware of
our sin and take care of it!
The right kind of praying by the right kind of person is very powerful.
In conclusion, our relationship with God will never be stronger than our prayer life. We should approach
Him with humility, consistency, faith, and righteousness. And know that all our prayers are to support his
will and purposed to glorify him.
Lessons learned:
Ezra:
Humble attitude. He led his people to prepare themselves through fasting and prayer trusting in God; an
attitude dependent on God.
Paul:
Consistency. He called for on going, continuous prayer
James:
Faith and righteousness. He described the effectiveness of a righteous persons prayer of faith.
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