| Order of Service | The Order of Morning Worship, Page 5 |
| Old Testament Lesson | Jeremiah 29:11-14 |
| Epistle Lesson | James 1:22-27 |
| Gospel Lesson | John 16:23b-30 |
| Sermon | “What It Means For Our Prayer Life That God Has Only Thoughts Of Peace Toward Us.” Jeremiah 29:11-14 |
| Hymns | 201, 456, 459, 457 |
Dear Friends in Christ,
This past Wednesday in our Evening Study Class, we studied the doctrine of prayer. We learned several truths which are basic to true God-pleasing prayers. Since many of you were not able to attend this class, we do well to cite some of these basic truths taught in that lesson.
First, what is prayer? It is very simply talking with God. It need not be a formal, eloquent prayer with perfect grammar. If that were the case, how few of us could pray! God only cares what proceeds from the heart.
Secondly, even we as Christians need to be reassured that prayer is not some theoretic religious ritual which has no value. Prayer is real since God Himself is real. If there is no such thing as prayer, there must be no God, for what is prayer but addressing the Almighty God! The Psalmist says, “Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee.” (Psalm 25:1-2)
Thirdly, prayer that is true prayer is addressed to the Triune God through faith in Jesus Christ. Supposed prayers to false gods are nothing but empty, vain exercises. The prayers of Mormons, Jews, the Islam and Jehovah’s Witnesses are indeed vain, empty rituals! Recall how the prophets of Baal prayed and prayed, but to no avail. Yet even prayers addressed to the Triune God presuppose faith in Christ. The Triune God hears our prayers for Jesus’ sake. This is why Jesus said in our Gospel Lesson, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” (John 16:24)
Yet there are other facts about prayer we should keep in mind. First, that we are Christians means that we do pray even when we are not conscious of it. The Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts is ever lifting up to God our inmost concerns and desires which we have trouble formulating. Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” In this respect, we actually do pray without ceasing as Scripture teaches.
However, even though we do ever pray through the Spirit, this does not mean we need not make a point to pray. In the Bible, we are specifically commanded to pray. Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Luke 11:9) “Call upon me.” (Psalm 50:15)
Having said all this, we now turn to our text which is one of the most wonderful texts in the Bible which should encourage and motivate us to pray with greater joy and fervency. Our text expresses two main points: 1) It tells us what God thinks toward us; and 2) Because of what God thinks toward us, He lovingly commands us to pray.
In the first place, fundamental to all prayer is knowing what God thinks toward us. God Himself says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (v. 11) Despite these words, even we as Christians, especially in our times of trial and cross- bearing, are prone to let our reason and feelings determine what God thinks toward us. In our time of trial and hardship, we are more aware of our sinfulness. Seeing our sinfulness, we conclude that God cannot possibly love us and have peaceful thoughts toward us. This is especially true as we compare ourselves with the Law of God. The Law of God will always show us our sins. The Law of God provides no hint of God’s mercy or comfort. Indeed, if God were to deal with us only according to His Law, He would indeed be angry with us. As such, our conscience would also continue to plague us with guilt. Our conscience would continue to roar against us. Added to this, as we see all our many troubles and sufferings, we can become all the more convinced that God must surely be angry with us. In our reason and observations, we see no evidence that God has thoughts of peace toward us.
Yet what does God Himself tell us? God says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Here God speaks for Himself. In other words, we are not left to guess or imagine what God thinks toward us. God Himself says that He has only thoughts of peace and not of evil or ill-will. Therefore, in this matter of how God thinks toward us, are we to believe what our reason, our feelings, and our observations tell us? Or, are we to take God at His Word? That God is on record declaring that He thinks thoughts of peace toward us means this is truly how He thinks toward us. For us to think otherwise, is to conclude that God does not mean what He says! It means we think He is a liar! Yet can God lie? Does God say one thing and mean another? Does God speak with a forked tongue? He does not. In fact, the Bible says, “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” (Romans 3:3-4)
Yet why does God think thoughts of peace toward us rather than evil? What has moved God to think thoughts of peace toward us? The answer is that in spite of our sins and guilt, He has been reconciled toward us. In other words, the enmity which our sins created has been removed. It has been removed by Christ our Savior. The Bible plainly says, “To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” (II Cor. 5:19) But what did Christ do to bring about this reconciliation? What did Christ do to change God’s thoughts from wrath to peace? The Bible tells us exactly why! Colossians 1:19-21 says, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet hath he reconciled.” Thus, by shedding His blood on the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ brought about this reconciliation and peaceful relation between us and God. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ truly removed all barriers between us and God.
This explains why God also says, “to give you an expected end.” Since God is at peace with us, we can be assured of what the end or conclusion of our earthly life will be. We can expect and be certain that we will go to heaven. Our very eternity is settled. There will be no surprises for us at our death nor on Judgment Day. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
That God has been truly reconciled to us and that we have an expected end means we should put away all fears about praying. In fact, the very fact that God has only thoughts of peace toward us, He lovingly and graciously commands us to pray. God says in our text, “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” (v. 12) These are not commands of the Law, but commands connected with the Gospel. We call them Gospel imperatives. These are commands based on God’s gracious disposition toward us. These are the commands of Him who has said that He has thoughts of peace toward us, and not of evil.
Added to this, God also gives us sure and certain promises that our prayers will be heard and answered. God says, “I will hearken unto you.” God will respond. He will acknowledge our prayers. Here again is where we must take God at His Word. We are not to look for or expect some sign from God that He hears and answers our prayers. God does not deal with us on the basis of signs. The devil wants us to look for signs. Indeed, there is no sign which is better or more sure than God’s own stated promises. Our certainty that God hears our prayers is His Word which plainly says, “I will hearken unto you.” Thus, it is a matter of faith in God’s Word. It all boils down to this: do I believe God or not?”
So much does God want us to have this certainty that our prayers are heard that He adds additional promises. He says,”And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye search for me with all your heart.” There are times when we are so vexed by some trouble or difficulty that God does not seem to be near. He seems to be far away. We feel we must search for Him. Yet at no time will we seek the Lord and not find Him. Granted, there are times when it may appear to us that God has hidden Himself from us. Here God also speaks to us. He says, “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer.” (Isaiah 54:7-8) Sometimes God may not give us any tangible satisfaction that our prayers have been heard. Sometimes God may make us wait so as to draw out our faith. By putting us on hold for a small moment, God teaches us to wait on Him. Yet we never wait in vain. God says in our text, “And I will be found of you.” This is again a word of promise. God assures us that we will find Him.
Now in the last verse of our text, God speaks of His people being in captivity. He says, “and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (v. 14) This refers to the seventy years in which the southern kingdom of Judah had been held captive in Babylon. At the time that Jeremiah wrote our text, the people of Judah were about to be led into captivity. Soon their temple would be destroyed. Soon they were going to be living in a foreign land where they could not practice public worship as before. It would be a very depressing and discouraging situation. Indeed, it would be the very chastening of the Lord.
Because of their disobedience and idolatry the chastening would be severe. It would cause the people to repent and to yearn to go back to their homeland.Thus, when God moved the heart of Cyrus the King of Persia to release the Jews to go back home, this was God’s promised answer to their prayers.
Now then, even we can feel captive. We can feel captive by some trial, some sorrow, or by some keen disappointment which seems will never go away. Sometimes a true believer may be held captive by deep-seated guilt over something one may have done in the past. He has repented and in his mind he knows God has forgiven him. Yet he has trouble being comforted. What should he do? Let him ask the Lord to help him to be comforted and be assured of God’s forgiveness. Will God hear? What are His thoughts toward us as we wallow in such distress of soul? Again, let God speak! He says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Notice, God give us an expected end. He brings all things to a blessed conclusion. Because God’s thoughts toward us are of peace, Scripture assures us that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Thus, not only does God hear our prayer in our times of personal captivity, but He answers us by releasing us from our captivity. As God also says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” (Psalm 50:15)
In these last days of sore distress when the world is in turmoil politically and economically, , we need to pray and we can pray. Even though economic conditions are waxing worse ad worse, God says we are to seek Him, and we will find Him. Likewise, in this evil world when family life is being pulled in all directions, prayer will bring many blessings. In this regard, our mothers and fathers need our prayers. Their duties, especially when raising the children, are 24/7. If a mother has no choice but to work outside the home, she still has domestic duties when she gets home. A mother’s work is never done. Children pray for your Mom. And as you pray for her, help her all you can with doing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, taking out the trash, and make your own bed. In other words, back up your prayers by being Dad’s and Mom’s helpers. Indeed, you children can pray to ask the Lord to help you to be loving, helpful children. Also, Dad should pray for his wife. Ask the Lord to help you to love and support your wife who is also a mother. Scripture says, “Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” (I Peter3:7)
Also, let the family pray as a family. Praying together serves to keep the family united. By praying for one another, we are further unified in love and kindness. Indeed, seek to have family devotions. What great blessings they bring!
One final thought, let us continue to pray for our Moms and Dad who have already raised their children. Let our adult children not forget all that their Moms and Dads did for them. They still need your love and respect. They need your prayers since our older Moms and Dads can experience loneliness and sometimes feel forsaken. Be there for them. Uphold them in your prayers. And remember, the Lord who has only thoughts of peace toward us will hear all our family prayers.
Let us therefore close with the opening words of our text. “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” In Jesus‘ Name. Amen.