Biblle Study Series: The Doctrine Of Prayer, John 16:23-24

 

THE DOCTRINE OF PRAYER

John 16:23-24

INTRODUCTION

The Bible tells us that we ought to pray without ceasing. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

Tonight, let's look at this ceaseless prayer. I want to focus on John 16:23-24

John 16:23-24

I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 

Prayer is important.  Jesus took time to pray throughout His 

Ministry on earth. He began His ministry in prayer.

Luke 3:21-22

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." 

NIV

Matthew 14:13

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. 

Matthew 14:23

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 

Luke 6:12-13

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 

The disciples observed Jesus' devotion to prayer and wanted to know how to pray

Luke 11:1-4

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 

2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father, 

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.  

3 Give us each day our daily bread. 

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. 

And lead us not into temptation.'" 

(The translators of the 1611 King James Bible assumed that a Greek manuscript they possessed was ancient and therefore adopted the phrase "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever" into the Lord's Prayer of Matthew's Gospel.)

 

JESUS AUTHORIZES YOUR PRAYER

Jesus gave his disciples a new doctrine for prayer.

Before Jesus, the prayers of the Israelites were through

The High priest according to the Law.  The High Priest beginning with

Aaron, Moses' brother, interceded for the people before God.

1500 YEARS  BEFORE CHRIST

John 16:24

24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 

It was a change in the intercessor of the people. Jesus established 

Himself, as the intercessor for all mankind.

Before Jesus salvation was under the tutor, the Law.  Atonement for sin

Was made through the sacrifice of animals by the High Priest.

Salvation was held until Jesus, the promised seed came.

(Genesis 3:15)

Galatians 2:16

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. 

Galatians 3:24-25

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

John 16:24

24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 

The significance of Jesus's Name is it comes with a covering of your sins

With His blood. Jesus offers your prayers to the Father.

Romans 8:26-27,  34

Jesus' name comes with authority and power.   John 13:3 

Prayer is in partnership with Jesus

Prayer in Jesus' name comes with a promise of effectiveness.

Ask and receive.

Prayer has a personal objective.  

Your petition is personal

God gives you a higher objective; that your joy is complete. 

What is complete Joy?

Romans 15:13-14

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Complete joy does not exist without God.

Notice, God has to fill you with complete Joy.

Let me suggest that complete joy includes the following;

      Complete satisfaction

      Complete peace

      Complete confidence

      Complete love

      Complete forgiveness 

      Complete tolerance

      Complete trust

You can have complete joy one moment and lose it the next moment.

If you want complete joy, you have to seek God for it. Your circumstances can cause you to focus on the world and change your mindset.

When you get off your knees in prayer God wants you to have                 COMPLETE JOY

Prayer has a divine objective.

You ask in connection with Jesus.

Your connection with Jesus was established when you excepted Jesus

As your personal savior.

We are owned by Jesus, so we ought to attend to His interest. 

1 Corinthians 7:22-23

 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought at a price.

 

Your prayers should be offered “ in Jesus' name”.

No Prayer is worth its breath if it leaves out the Lordship of Jesus.

We must pray with Jesus in our minds and in every element of

Our prayer.  If Jesus is not in our minds, the prayer can become

Totally selfish. 

What would Jesus ask the Father?   What has He done in Scripture?

What is your testimony?

Our prayers should be in harmony with His will.   Matthew 6:10

Prayer  is addressed to the Father

We pray in Jesus' name but it is addressed to the Father.

Jesus is our mediator. He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father

God the creator answers our prayers.

Prayer is limitless in scope 

The text says to ask anything. 

Anything includes the desires of your heart.

Anything you can conceive of that gives God’s glory.

Philippians 4:13

Effective prayer requires abiding in Jesus 

John 15:7-8

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Prayer ought to be in the will of the Father.  What would Jesus ask?

Prayer has the objective of glorifying the Father.

We glorify God by bearing much fruit.     This brings joy

We glorify God with obedience, service, and devotion.

Our objective is to lift up Jesus.

Prayers ought to be  LOVE

John 14:15-17

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.

Obedience is the Evidence of Love

Love recognizes the need for a COUNSELOR

Love is truth forever

The counselor is with you continuously.

Prayers ought to be according to the Word of God because Jesus

Spoke the words from the Father.

John 14:9-10

 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own.

God presents us with signs and miracles every moment of

Our lives. 

Look up in the sky. How does the Sun stay in its place and the planets stay in their orbits as they orbit around it,  It is

The power and authority of God.

Look at yourself. Miracles are happening as we speak to keep you healthy.   You breathe in contaminated air and

Your lungs separate oxygen to send to the bloodstream. 

What you eat is processed in the body and turns into

Vital nutrients that enter into the living cells of your body 

These are things you don’t ask for and God does continuously without fail.

 How much more will He do when you ask in

Obedience?

SUMMARY

JESUS AUTHORIZES YOUR PRAYER

PRAYER IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH JESUS

EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS IN JESUS NAME

PRAYERS IN THE NAME OF JESUS WILL BE

ANSWERED

JESUS WANTS YOU TO HAVE COMPLETE JOY

CLASS QUESTIONS

WILL THE LORD ANSWER YOUR PRAYER

IF YOU DON’T MENTION JESUS?

WHY OR WHY NOT

CAN YOU INTERCEDE FOR SOMEONE IN PRAYER?

IF THERE IS SOMETHING YOU WANT FOR YOURSELF, SHOULD YOU ASK JESUS FOR IT?

Rev. M. Mitchell

This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Command To Worship, A Covenant With God", Exodus 31:12-18, 11/13/2022

 GOD’S COMMAND TO WORSHIP

Exodus 31:12-18

A SIGN OF COMMITMENT

V:12. Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

The Sabbath was a Holy day of rest. God created the universe in six days and

rested on the seventh day. He made it Holy by His own observance.

God set an example for us. Work giving all your best for 6 days, then rest

for a day.

Make the seventh day a holy day reflecting on the good in the six days of

work. Anything we are capable of doing is because God gave us the

mind to do it, the strength to do it and the skill to accomplish it.

God commands us to set aside a day to rest in His righteousness.

The Lord set the example.

Genesis 1:31-2:4

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And

the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on

the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested

from all his work that God created and made.

A SPECIAL DAY OF REST AND REFLECTION

Notice, God reflected on His work. He declared “it was very good”.

God sanctified the seventh day, and set it aside as a day of rest and reflection.

No matter how bad you think your week was, it was God who allowed you

to make it through the week.

God blessed the seventh day for you and me. God does not get tried. But

we do. God needs no rest. But we do. God does not need to be encouraged

by good work. But we do. We need a day when we can set aside all trouble

and focus on God.

We have a tendency to do what we want and only call on God when we

need something. God designed the seventh day as holy for us.

The world finds it easy to worship what they have, but difficult to worship

the ONE who gave all they have.

Believers in Jesus know better and should practice gratefulness in worshipping the ONE TRUE GOD so the world can witness the right example.

GOD IS HOLY AND THE DAY OF WORSHIP IS HOLY

V:14 "'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

The seventh day was made special for the Israelites. God did not give this command

to the other nations of the world. God designed a nation that He grew up in

slavery and then set free for Himself. Because the Israelites were His chosen people,

He set sanctified a day for them to rest and worship Him.

To reinforce the importance of the day, God gave the Israelite's the consequence of

death for their disobedience. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

This was the same sentence that God gave Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God gave Adam and Eve knowledge of Himself and His righteousness, then

the command to worship.

Worship of the Lord is essential to our fellowship with Him and our well-being.

We don’t have any problem finding time for ourselves, but a day devoted to God

is a problem. It is what we love that gets our attention.

John 14:15

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Like us, God had to teach the Israelites the meaning of love with his

commands.

Matthew Henry noted the importance of God’s Sabbath this way:

Exodus 31:12-18

The law of the sabbath had been given them before any other law, by the preparation in the desert(ch. 16:23); it had been inserted in the body of the moral law, in the fourth commandment; it had been annexed to the judicial law (ch. 23:12); and here it is added to the first part of the ceremonial law, because the observance of the Sabbath is indeed the hem and hedge of the whole law.

(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study)

You and I would take for granted God’s commands if there were no consequences.

We must be truthful about who we are before we can change our attitude to love for

the ONE who made us and sustains us. Worship is an attitude of love.

The Israelites had the same death sentence for disobedience while they were

enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. They were forced to labor for the benefit of

The Egyptians. They were treated as property rather than human beings.

that they were free in the desert, and the only labor they had was the care

of the animals they brought out of Egypt. Bread, meat, and water were provided

by the Lord daily. Protection from the enemy was provided by the Lord.

You would think that it would be easy to follow God’s commands. You

would think that the Israelites would welcome the commands of the Lord.

You would think that what God was doing for them free of charge on a daily

basis would be enough for gratefulness and voluntary worship. Yet

their minds were on what they left in slavery.

You and I are no different. We need Sunday as a day of regular worship to

remind us of the goodness of the Lord.

We are not of this world, we are just passing through. It is our passing

through in praise and worship that can make a difference in the world.

HONORING THE LORD IN PRAISE AND WORSHIP

V:16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'"

The Lord’s Sabbath was made for man. Honoring the Sabbath was a sign to

all the idol-worshiping nations of the covenant God made with Israel.

Men may consider every day is an important business day. But God sanctified

the Sabbath for the holy business of worship. The key to fellowship with

God is the worship of Him in spirit and truth. God wants a day of our

undivided attention. A day without worship is a day without fellowship

with Him. A day without fellowship with the Lord is a day when some blessings

are lost.

We should be grateful for God’s commanded times of worship.

Worship of the Lord keeps our minds focused on the tremendous

unlimited love of the Lord. Worship of the Lord stirs up hope and

confidence in Him. We live in a world where bad things happen every

day. But we live in Jesus who makes the bad work for our good.

Worship reminds us that all good comes through our faith in Jesus.

THE WORD OF GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE

V:18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

God has given us His Word printed in stone. The stone represents the eternal

unchanging nature of the Word. God sits high and sees our need for His

righteousness printed in His Word. Those who worship God are a testimony

to the blood covenant ratified in Jesus’ death on the cross.

Rev. M. Mitchell

Bible Study Series: Aible In Jesus, John 15:7

 ABIDING IN CHRIST

 

 

John 15:7-8

 

INTRODUCTION

 

After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, fellowship

With the Lord was broken.  Sin entered mankind all his

Time on earth.

 

The need for a redeemer became the objective of God’s work to

Draw men to Himself.   Genesis 3:15

 

Jesus became the promised seed that we so gratefully hope for.

Through 42 generations of Israelites, He came down to be

Our Savior.  He took off His robe of glory, became man to be

Our redeemer.

 

 

Theme Scripture

V:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

 

The Greek for abide is meno

NT:3306

 

 meno (men'-o); a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):

 

KJV - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for),  thine own.

 

To tabernacle or pitch a tent in the hope of conquering death, of being

Resurrected. The hope of living forever.

 

Jesus said if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask and it

Will be done for you.

Abiding is Jesus is your spiritual life

 

When you abide in Christ you take on the mind of Christ. In other words, you follow the commands of Christ. Your first thought on anything is Jesus

 

John 15:1

 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

 

Jesus identified Himself and His mission in relationship with the Father

And man.

Jesus is vine owned by the Father, the care taker. Jesus is souce of life,

And the fountain of spiritual fruitfulness of man. 

 

There is a true vine and there are other vines not connected to Jesus.

The other vines are the world influenced by Satan.

 

 

 

John 15:2

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

KJV

 

It may be that the purpose of Peter’s denial of Jesus the night before His

Crucifixion was to purge him of his pride and to make him see his weakness. Peter’s denial  was planed by Jesus to strengthen other

Believers

 

Luke 22:31-33

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

 

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

 

 

After Peter’s first sermon, 5000 were saved

1 Corinthians 2:15-16

15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:

16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord

that he may instruct him?"

But we have the mind of Christ.

 

The evidence of the mind of Christ is the fruit you bear

 

 

 

.John 15:5

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

 

 

We have two types of Believers, Christians

We have those who are active and produce fruit.

We have those who are inactive and produce no fruit 

 

The consequence of not being active is the loss of blessings.

 

John 15:6

6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

 

This is not a loss of salvation verse. No one is saved by works or his own

Merits.  This person was chosen by Christ to be in the branch.
This person chose not to be fruitful and therefore loses blessing.  

 

V:8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 

The purpose of all believers is to glorify the Father.

 

We all have been given gifts and talents to do the work of the Father.

We are well equipped by God.

We have been chosen by God

We are accepted by God

Our work has been appointed and approved by God

We are love by God.

 

In order to do the work of God we have be totally dependant on Him.

 

There are 3 levels of fruit.  There is fruit, more fruit and much fruit.

Our spiritual objective should be to bear MUCH FRUIT.

 

 

What is the fruit?

Galatians 5:22-23

 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentlenesses, and self-control.

 

What does abiding in Christ look like?

 

To abide in Christ we have to commit ourselves to GOD

 

Philippians 2:13

13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

 

Abiding in Christ is pursuing God’s purpose.

John 6:29-30

29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

 

 

 

 

 

PERSONAL EVIDENCE OF ABIDING

 

You Reverence God

You Trust God

You fear God

You praise God

You are obedience to His commands

You serve for the Glory of God

Unselfish giving

Prayers

THE CHALLENGE TO ABIDE IN CHRIST

John 15:7

 

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

 

John 15:7 is a challenge to abide in Christ

We are one with Christ

We have been given a choice to Study His Word

We have the responsibility to meditate on His Word

We have the responsibility to act according to His Word

Must trust His Word

We should study to know God’s promises

We must pray according to His Word

 

You  must be confident that your prayers will be answered.

Psalms 37:4-5

Delight yourself in the Lord

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 

 

SUMMARY

 

THE ROAD TO HEAVEN HAS BEED PREPARED BY JESUS

 

THE ROAD IS PAVED WITH MUCH FRUIT

 

OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO BEAR FRUIT THAT GLORIFIES THE FATHER

 

 

 

CLASS QUESTIONS

 

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU ABIDE IN CHRIST?

 

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ABIDING IN CHRIST?

 

CAN A PERSON WHO HAS DENIED CHRIST BE REDEEMED?