having an effective prayer life
Key Passage: Hebrews 4:14-16
Date: November 5, 2019
Chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 4. I start a series this month on having an effective prayer life—having an effective prayer life.
Those of you that exercise, or maybe you did some sports or martial arts, you’ll know. They say, “Look, you’re as strong as your core is.” You need to exercise; you need to get your core strong and do core exercises. For Christians, the core of us, of course, is Jesus, but you exercise that in prayer—your prayer life. Someone has said, “You’ll never rise above your prayer life in the Christian life.” Your prayer life is vital if we are going to get stronger for the Lord and where God can do more in and through us. Our prayer life is key.
And so for this month, would you ask—not just today, but throughout the weeks—pray, “Lord, grow me in my prayer life.” Now, when I say prayer life, sometimes my mind goes to the prayer closet, and that’s part of it, but that’s not all of it.
Someone said the best place to pray for potatoes is at the end of a hoe handle. Prayer can be done anywhere. Your prayer life includes a lot of things. But let’s pray that God would grow us in our prayer lives this month. And starting today with your rights as a Christian to pray. Your rights as a Christian to pray. We’re going to read your rights today. “By line up against the wall, we’re going to arrest you. Read your rights.” And your rights as a Christian to pray.
We’re going to be in Hebrews 4. We’ll start with verse 14. We’ll read the verses, pray, talk a little bit, maybe generally about prayer, and then dive into these verses here. Would you please stand if you are able, out of respect to the Word of God? We like to show it respect. He said, “I have magnified My word above all thy names”—amazing statements. So we like to give the Word of God honor and respect.
Hebrews 4, we’re in verse number 14 of God’s Word. And it says, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Let’s pray. Lord, what a prayer. Father, Lord, we do come. Lord, I’m asking for a big thing. Father, every person here this morning, every one of them, the teenagers on up to the senior saints, Lord, would you grow us all in our prayer lives? Lord, would you use this truth—it’ll be a reminder, an encouragement, a refresher—but everyone, Lord, I preach you, use the truth this morning to grow us in our prayer lives. Father, would you give me the mind and the attention of every person here? And Lord, help me to direct us to you and to your Word. Father, we thank you, magnify you, and praise you for what you do, Lord. We ask for these things in faith because of the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. We’re going to divide the will of God into two categories for just a moment to explain a little bit about prayer. Two categories. First of all, we’re going to name this category the unconditional will of God. By that, I mean there are some things that are going to happen no matter what you do. Jesus is going to come back one day, no matter what anybody does. Amen for that. It’s just going to happen. Once someone is saved—a child of God—they are going to go to heaven. Nothing can change that. It’s the unconditional will of God. It doesn’t matter what you do; it’s going to happen. You understand?
But sometimes there’s the conditional will of God. God has a will, a desire, but there is a condition put on that. The classic illustration we’ll use is the Bible says that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know the verse? Second Peter 3:9 is the verse, all right? But help me ask me, “Not that any should perish.” But tell me, do all people die lost? Yes. Why? Because of God’s conditional will. He has provided salvation. Look up here. Everybody, look. Put your cell phones up. Look right up here. God’s will is for everybody to be saved. He has given the ability for everyone to be saved. But there’s a condition to that. If they come and they repent of their sin—they can’t save themselves—and they put their full faith in Jesus Christ, there’s a condition to that.
There are many things in your life, in my life, and in our country and in our world that are the conditional will of God. Remember, help us. Many of you know these verses. He said over there in James 4:2, “You have not,” because there’s a condition there. God would like to give you some things. God would like to do some things in your life, but it’s only if you ask. There’s a conditional will of God. He wants everyone to be saved, but there’s a condition to that. And He knows, by the way—He knows the future through His foreknowledge—He knows that many won’t get saved, so they go to hell. He has already told us that. See? There is the conditional will of God. Matthew 7 talks about asking for good things. Verse number 11 says, “How much more shall your Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him.”
So there are some things that God would like to give to you. You see, in prayer, nobody is going to go to God in prayer and twist His arm, pull it behind His back, and force God to do something. You’re kidding yourself. Now, God does allow us to wrestle with Him. Remember in the Old Testament, Jacob wrestled, and God allowed him. I believe that was the Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, God in flesh. But at the end of that story, after he wrestled all that long, He just touched the hollow of his thigh, just touched it, and he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. They say that’s pretty much the strongest part of the body—for that to be pulled out of joint, it almost has to take two trucks to pull that. That’s one of the strongest joints in the body. And I believe God is saying, “Look, I’ll let you wrestle with Me all that long. But the honest truth is, I can just barely touch you, and you have a limp for the rest of your life.” But God has some things He’d like to give to you. There is a condition to it—the conditional will of God: if you ask.
He hits this thing of prayer—this great avenue God allows people to receive things, more things for Him, through the avenue of prayer. Sometimes I’ll pray, probably not as much as I ought to, but sometimes I’ll pray, “Lord, at Rutherford County Baptist Church, we don’t want what we can do—that’s not much. We want what God can do.” Amen right there? Let’s try that again. At Rutherford County Baptist Church, we don’t want what we can do; we want what God can do. He can change lives. He can put marriages back together. He can take a wayward grandson or granddaughter and get them back, tugging on their heartstrings. We want what God can do. So often it happens through this avenue of prayer.
Can I be honest with you? Sometimes it’s hard to know in prayer whether this is the unconditional will of God or the conditional will of God. By the way, that’s where our prayer partner, the Holy Spirit, comes in. Let me give you an illustration. Some of you have heard me tell this. Years ago, I lost my finger—my index finger. It wasn’t my wife! I was in an accident at work years ago, and I eventually ended up in a Chicago hospital. My sister lived in the Detroit area, miles away from me. I said, “Hey, call my family, tell them to pray that they can put those fingers back on.” I mean, I can still pick my nose with my pinky, but I was used to that index finger. My sister in Michigan started to pray, maybe around 2 a.m. “Lord, help them to reattach Paul’s fingers.” And the Spirit of God told her, “Helene, that’s not My will. They can’t reattach them.” She wisely had her ear open to the Holy Spirit listening—that’s key. She realized, through the leading of her prayer partner, the Holy Spirit, “Don’t pray that. You’re wasting your time. I want you to pray this instead.” She changed her prayer. She started praying, “Lord, would You give Paul grace to handle it when they tell him we can’t reattach the fingers?” Paul, you’re just going to pick your nose with your pinky finger from here on now. That’s tough, folks. That’s a joke, all right? I hate it when I have to tell you that was a joke.
So saying conditional and unconditional is sometimes hard. By the way, I have to move on, but here’s the thing: sometimes you won’t know. You pray, you keep praying about that issue until God either hears your prayer and gives you what you want, or He changes your heart. Apostle Paul prayed, “Lord, take the thorn away, take this sword away.” And God said, “No, that’s My unconditional will in this situation.” But the Spirit of God changed his heart, and he said, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” So you pray. I hope you have a desire. How many of you say, “I would like to grow in my prayer life”? Anybody like that? I would. I would. It is a great thing for us to grow in our prayer life. Let’s look at this. There are great truths about our prayer life. Hebrews chapter 4, look down in verse number 14 again there.
I think we’re okay temperature-wise, but I am going to ask, Brother Kepp, would you just get your hands going? Just give us a little airflow there. And somebody didn’t brush their teeth, so we need a little airflow, you know. That’s another joke there, all right. Verse number 14, Hebrews 4:14. Let’s dissect these verses out here real quickly. Hebrews 4, and verse number 4, the Bible says, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest.” We’ll talk for just a little bit about high priest. Would you help me out? Would you say, “High Priest?” Now, this high priest He is talking about—He’s not talking about the Old Testament high priest, Aaron and the different ones—He is talking here about Jesus.
Now let me explain a bit about the high priest. A prophet is one to whom God would come with a message, and they would go to the people for God. In the Old Testament, Isaiah, they would herald the message to the people from the Lord. That’s a prophet. Now, a priest would go to God for the people. He would offer up sacrifices and things for the people to God. You should understand the difference here. The high priest was the highest of the priests, if you will. Aaron, we typically think of the high priest in the Old Testament. One of the special things he did, among many, was on a special day, the Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur, if I can say it right, the Jewish people call it that. It was on the 10th day of the seventh month.
The high priest would put on his priestly garment; he had to be cleansed himself. He would take a lamb, all right? It had to be a male lamb, a spotless lamb, about a year old, and he would take that lamb and shed its blood. It wasn’t just suffocating a lamb, putting a pillow over it. He had to spill its blood because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. He would offer this lamb as a sacrifice. But then, a big thing: he would take that blood, some of that blood from the lamb, and he would go into the tabernacle. He would enter the holy place. Inside the holy place, kind of in the middle point, there is a veil. Nobody was ever allowed past that veil. That was the Most Holy Place. That is where the Ark of the Covenant was, the Mercy Seat on top of it, where God’s special presence dwelt very specifically. The high priest once a year had to be clean. If he wasn’t clean, things weren’t good. He would enter in, pass the veil into the Most Holy Place, and he would take the blood of that lamb and sprinkle it, I believe, seven times. That was the Day of Atonement. He was atoning for the sins of the children of Israel. So they would have the mercy of God for another year because a high priest went into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled that lamb’s blood on the Mercy Seat. Y’all with me?
Now, Jesus—look back in verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens. It is significant that He is saying that He passed into heaven. The earthly tabernacle that was made down here—remember Moses made it under Moses’ leadership—God told Moses how to build it, and the Lord let Moses see the pattern. That pattern was the real tabernacle in heaven. That was the pattern from which God gave Moses instruction. From that pattern, they made the earthly one. So, up in heaven is the real tabernacle. Jesus, our high priest, when He shed His blood on the cross, He took His blood and passed into the heavens. He went into the heavenly tabernacle, the real tabernacle, and He applied His own blood, because Jesus is the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Y’all with me out there? So, He applied His own blood. When I go to Jesus and accept Him as my high priest, my Savior, I enter under His blood. God sees me through the Mercy Seat where the shed blood is. That is the only way anyone will enter the heavenlies or heaven: through Jesus’ shed blood. If Jesus is truly your high priest, that is by revelation. We don’t have time to get into it, but revelation shows that if you are a born-again child of God, you are actually a priest through Christ, the High Priest. We won’t preach on it today, but that’s why we’ll get to prayer a little bit. As a priest, you can go to God for others also. It is part of your priestly act through Christ; you pray for other people. Aren’t you glad Jesus shed His blood and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat for you and me? He is our High Priest. Nobody will go to heaven because of their own righteousness. They will go to heaven because of the High Priest Jesus. That is what is being talked about.
Let’s keep going. We’re in Hebrews 4. We just read 14. We’ll finish it out real quick. Verse 14: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” Notice it doesn’t say hold fast your salvation; you don’t keep yourself saved. It refers to your testimony, your profession. When someone gets baptized, we say it is “in obedience to the command of our Lord and Master, and upon your public profession of faith in Him.” That is holding fast our profession. Your testimony is something you ought to hold onto: “Jesus is my Savior, He is my High Priest.”
Verse number 15: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” It does not say infirmities because infirmities mean weakness; Jesus had no weaknesses. He can be touched by the feeling. I like that. Just when I feel weak—anyone ever feel inadequate in the Christian life? I raise both my hands to that one—Jesus can be touched by your feeling, your infirmity.
He is talking about Jesus. He said, “We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points…” Notice that: “all points.” Before, he was talking about entering into the heavens, but this verse here, he is talking about while He was here on earth. How long was Jesus here on the earth bodily? Thirty-three years. That is the time frame He is talking about. During those 33 years, He was tempted in all points. Was Jesus ever tempted to have a critical spirit? Yes. Was Jesus ever tempted by fleshly sins? Yes. Did He ever encounter family problems? Yes. Was He ever tempted to…? Yes, yes, tempted in all, all, all points like as we are. But here is the good thing: What is the last part of the verse? Never sinned. Yet without sin.
Now, here is the thing. Because Jesus is our High Priest—see, the Old Testament priests had to go every year because they were sinners; they had to be cleansed first. Jesus didn’t need to be perfect, and He doesn’t have to go every year. No, Hebrews 10:10 says, “Once for all.” That’s why you only have to be saved one time, amen. Because Jesus is that, it doesn’t say He is just our high priest. Go back over to verse 14. Seeing then that we have a… what is the next word? Great High Priest. He is not just Aaron, the earthly high priest; He is the Great High Priest. We don’t have time to get into the Order of Melchizedek. He is the Great High Priest now. Here is the difference: the Old Testament priests every year, every year, every year, all these lambs and so on. But the Great High Priest entered in.
Here is a neat thing about it. When Jesus, our Great High Priest, shed His blood, He took His blood and passed into the heavens to apply it in the tabernacle in heaven. What happened a couple of things happened that day when He died on the cross? There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black. And something happened in the temple: that veil. You see, they would enter into the holy place—the table of showbread, the altar of incense, the seven golden candlesticks (menorah)—and then right here was the veil. This veil was very thick. Behind that was the Most Holy Place, where God Almighty’s glory was centered. If you entered in there unauthorized, it was all over. But when Jesus died on the cross, this very thick veil was rent, I like how the Bible words it, from top to bottom. You see why? Because if He is your High Priest, He is the Great High Priest. One of the things He did was rent that veil from top to bottom for all of His children. Now you have the right to enter into the Most Holy Place and go to God in His throne room and speak with God the Father yourself, because of our Great High Priest who rent the veil from top to bottom.
No longer is it about the daily shedding of blood or the yearly Yom Kippur. Now, I can enter in at any time. That’s why the next verse—look at verse number 16—what does he say? He says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.” Hey, you have the right. Jesus, your Great High Priest, has earned you the right to go to God in prayer. You have that right. Everybody is about rights. What are my rights? As a born-again Christian, you have the right to go to God in prayer because of Jesus, the Great High Priest. God says, “I want you to come in. I have given you this right, this privilege.” Jesus has earned that right for you. So when the devil comes to you and says, “You’re not worthy to pray; God’s not going to listen to you,” say, “You’re right. I’m not worthy, but my Great High Priest… My Great High Priest that entered into the heavenlies said, ‘Hey, He is the one who makes me worthy.’ And I have the right, I have the privilege, I have the right to enter into this throne room.” That’s why He said, “Come boldly.” If your own heart condemns you, 1 John 3 said, “If your own heart condemns you, God is greater.” You have the right to enter in there.
At our last building over on Lowry Street—that street that has about 10,000 different names for it—we were across from what used to be Shoney’s. Anyway, right across from that building, some of you were with us back then, remember they wanted to put a bar right down there? Somebody said, “Pastor, we need to fight this thing about this bar.” I asked, “What are our rights?” We began to study the city codes. I can’t remember the exact number, but I looked, and from building to building, it wasn’t far enough away. Once I saw our legal rights, I said when they had the board meeting, “Let’s go down to City Hall and try to fight that thing.” We took a group of people out there several times. This was in the papers; it’s how people heard about the church. But here’s the thing: I said I must fight it once I learned of our legal rights before God to come to God in prayer. When there is trouble here and there is trouble there, I have the right. I can enter into the throne room. I can go to God Almighty and say, “Hey, Father, I need some help here. I know I’m not worthy, but I’m not coming on my name. I’m coming on Jesus, my Great High Priest.” I have the right to come there, and then I fight some battles against the devil, amen. Because of my goodness, I know what I am—I have a lot of problems. But I know how great my High Priest is. That is power in prayer when you realize you have the right to come because of your Great High Priest. If you are saved this morning, you have the legal rights. We have studied out the ordinance. Hey, we can come boldly. We have a right to come because of our Great High Priest.
That was point number one. We only have about ten other points. We’ll be done maybe at 2 o’clock. Nobody said amen on that. I appreciate you being there for me. We only have two more points, and we had a lot of introduction before point number one. Point number two, here we go. Here is the wonderful thing. Let’s look back at verse number 16. Here is the wonderful thing. He says right there, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of…” What is the next word? I’m glad it doesn’t say the throne of justice. I wouldn’t stand a chance. I’m glad when God, not man, but when God describes a throne in His Word, He says, “My throne.” God says, “You come on over here. You have the right to come into My throne room, and I am sitting on the throne. And it is a throne of grace.” That is encouraging to me. Grace—help me out with that—grace is me getting something I don’t deserve, right? We often call it, if you know that acronym, G-R-A-C: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. I can come to the throne; I have the right to enter in there because of my Great High Priest. When I enter in there, I get to talk to the Father, and He sits on a throne of grace. I get things I don’t deserve.
I just think about it. We’ve been trying to work on some things with a 20th anniversary and a pamphlet, whatnot. I’m worried, and I’m so thankful. God has been so good. I messed up 10,000 times. My wife still wants to be in the ministry. My son is involved in the church as youth director. My daughter is working at a Christian school downstairs. That is not me; that is just God’s grace. I am thankful we can enter that throne and get a lot of grace—things I don’t deserve. I have disappointed God a million times, but I am glad God’s throne is a throne of grace. So, preacher, my marriage has many problems, and I deserve them all. I understand pretty much we all do, but His throne is a throne of grace. Preacher, my finances are a wreck, and I made the wreck. Hey, you can go to the throne room, and His throne is the throne of grace. Preacher, my health isn’t very good, probably because I’ve been eating candy bars, chocolate cake, pies, fried chicken, and fried okra for about 27,000 years, but eating all that is probably my fault. But His throne is a throne of grace. Young people, you say, “Man, I’m messed up; I’m not the young person I ought to be for God.” I like for God to bless me with hope. Hey, the good thing is His throne is the throne of grace.
Last year around Christmas time, a good family in our church spoiled my wife and me and Brother Anthony. They picked us up in a minivan and took us to the Cock of the Walk. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you need to find out. They brought out fish, chicken, all you can eat. They had pickled onions that tasted good. Fried okra, cornbread. All you can get! I mean, they just kept bringing it out. I didn’t pay for a dime of it. Then they took us over to the Opry Mills area, and we went in where they have that boat that rides around. We don’t have the money to rent that thing, but they said, “Hey, let’s ride the boat.” They paid for everything. They paid for Starbucks drinks, which are expensive. That is grace. I received so many things I didn’t deserve; they were just good to us. When you enter this throne, you have the right because you have a Great High Priest, and He is sitting on a throne of grace. The honest, simple truth is I enter on my merit, and even my best is filthy rags. He has so much grace; it is a throne of grace.
Here is the last thing. We’re going to go home soon. We’ve got to eat, amen. By the way, speaking about that, it’s all because of Jesus, our Great High Priest. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That’s why passages—it wasn’t Second Corinthians 1:20, it’s on the front cover of your bulletin. Look at that real quick. Front cover of your bulletin. It’s talking about Jesus there. Second Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him, Amen to the Lord God, the Father.” That is all the grace. You enter in this home. Now, here is the last thing. Look back in verse number 16. Hebrews 4:16. I know I’m jumping around a little bit here. Hebrews 4:16. Are you there? Amen? Good. See, verse number 16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may…” What are the next two words? Obtain mercy. It’s interesting. Obtain it. It’s almost like, “You got it.” Obtain mercy. It reminds you of, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Obtain mercy. Mercy—you are not getting the judgment you deserve. But what does it say next? That we may obtain mercy and what are the next two words? Find grace. It has always been interesting to me: you obtain mercy, but you have to find grace.
Here is the thing. We have the throne; it is the throne of grace. That is the throne room up there. If you are saved, if you are a child of God, then because of your Great High Priest, you have the right—I have the right—to enter in. My legal rights. That is why I said, “Come boldly.” So, because of my Great High Priest, I have the right to enter in. When I enter into the throne room, God calls it the throne of what? Grace. But I obtain mercy, I find grace. Picture it like this: picture you are hiding Easter eggs, but it is raining, so you have to do it inside. The children come in, and they start finding eggs. John pushes Sarah out of the way and steals her egg—that is kind of real life there. There are eggs all over. Mom and Dad are waiting for them. What if they look underneath the cushions? I hid one there!
I have the right to enter in because of my Great High Priest. God is on a throne of grace, and He says you obtain mercy, you find grace. You might have to spend a little time in the throne room to find some of that grace. You might have to say, “I am here. I know I am not worthy, but I am here. My High Priest has earned me the right, and I am here with You. I am so thankful for You on the throne of grace. I like to spend some time here. I need my grandchild to be worked on.” God says, “I have some grace over there.” I need help with my finances. God says, “I have some grace over there.” All over the throne room, there is a lot of grace, but you are going to have to spend some time in there and find the grace He has available for you.
Let’s start this morning. I am going to enter in because I have a Great High Priest. I am so thankful it is a throne of grace. I need a lot of grace. My neighbor is lost and on the way to hell, and I want to find some grace for them—not earn it, find it. I need some grace in my marriage. I need some grace to be a good testimony for the Lord at work. I am going to spend some time and find a whole lot of grace for the rest of my life.
“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich.”
He has grace stored up for you. He has the grace. Would you just spend some time thanking Him and praising Him? If you are thankful for the Great High Priest, would you say amen? Oh, I am so thankful. And every time the devil says you are not worthy to enter in, say, “You’re right, but my Great High Priest. I know my rights, buddy. And because of my Great High Priest, I can enter boldly. Not because I am all that, because He is all that. And by the way, devil, in the rights I read over there, it says it is the throne of grace.” If I know my rights, I am willing to fight a little bit for something good and right, if I have some rights in the deal. And I have to obtain mercy and find grace. Man, I don’t know about you, but I know there is some chocolate in those eggs. Come on now. Yeah, some peanut M&Ms. That will make you look for something right there.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar 11319