Acceptable Prayer

The point: Examine whether the doctrines you know and love are fueling praise, worship, and fervent prayer.

Martin contrasts the 'unrealistic world' of conference preaching with the spiritual discipline and accountability of regularly facing a local congregation, arguing that the latter prevents pride and forces deeper study.

It's Ephesians chapter 1, and in preparation for our study this morning, I was reminded again of the great blessing to me personally is the discipline of having to face a regular congregation. If ever one would be tempted to rationalize into preaching something that one had preached before, it would be after the schedule I've had in the past couple of weeks and just getting home Thursday night, and yet I'm grateful to God for the discipline of knowing that I had a responsibility under God to face you with a word fresh from God's own word, and if for no other reason, I feel these men who cut th...

0:04 - 1:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Ensure your worship and prayer terminate upon the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, not solely on Jesus.

Martin explains his theological reason for not using Elizabethan English ('thee' and 'thou') in prayer, noting that 'Abba Father' in the New Testament signifies intimate, childlike access to God, like a child saying 'Daddy,' which is lost in overly formal language.

the intimacy and the filial tenderness that is in God he is the father he is the father when Paul approached God he approached him in all that unbounded freedom of an adopted son how he loved to revel in that concept Galatians chapter 4 because ye are sons he hath sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts whereby we cry and then he takes the word that would be most intimate in the one language Abba Father frankly this is one of the reasons why I believe in the word why I believe in the word why I believe in the word why I believe in the word why I believe in the word I've given up prayi...

23:26 - 24:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Ensure your worship and prayer terminate upon the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, not solely on Jesus.

He shares an anecdote about hearing godly Spaniards pray 'Oh Señor' repeatedly, illustrating how their language naturally conveys intimate friendship with God without elevated, distant terms.

the intimacy and the filial tenderness that is in God he is the father he is the father when Paul approached God he approached him in all that unbounded freedom of an adopted son how he loved to revel in that concept Galatians chapter 4 because ye are sons he hath sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts whereby we cry and then he takes the word that would be most intimate in the one language Abba Father frankly this is one of the reasons why I believe in the word why I believe in the word why I believe in the word why I believe in the word why I believe in the word I've given up prayi...

23:26 - 24:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Discipline yourself to accompany prayer with thanksgiving, even when you don't feel like it, as it is a duty.

Martin uses the analogy of Sam and David playing piano and fiddle, where one is incomplete without the other, to illustrate that prayer is incomplete without the accompaniment of thanksgiving.

what was the accompaniment of his prayer why it was thanksgiving just as certainly as Sam accompanies our good friend David when they go out to play piano and fiddle and they go out and the piece is incomplete the one without the other so likewise when the apostle prayed there was always his accompanist with him he never went out without his accompanist and the accompaniment of his prayer was always praise or the giving of thanks now most of us would say well that's all well and good that's nice but we would not admit that it is a duty for us to make conscious effort of accompanying our prayer...

32:14 - 33:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Discipline yourself to accompany prayer with thanksgiving, even when you don't feel like it, as it is a duty.

Martin recounts counseling new converts who admitted not feeling like praying, and his response, 'join the club,' to normalize the struggle and emphasize that prayer is a duty performed regardless of feeling.

but our amen to that statement yes we are yes he is the giver of every good and every perfect gift God is revealed as the fountain of all good in prayer we acknowledge that fact and we depend on him for all good that we expect in thanksgiving and in praise we look back over our shoulders and we say God you have indeed given all that I have now by way of application let me say that like every other duty you've got to set yourself to perform it I venture to say that the reason most of you here don't have this accompaniment of your prayers is that you only praise when you feel like it and you rea...

38:06 - 39:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Incorporate the discipline of thanksgiving into family worship, ensuring praise precedes requests.

He gives a practical example for family worship, suggesting that families should not ask God for anything until they have thanked Him for at least one thing, to combat a 'gimme' spirit.

until you cast yourself upon the Lord Jesus Christ where by what means were you stripped of your own righteousness glad to find yourself accepted in the beloved until that issue is settled my friend you cannot pray but if in grace God has brought you then will you not be stirred up to pray with acceptable prayer prayer that has a proper object the God of the Lord Jesus Christ you see now the relationship between understanding the word and prayer the more you know of the whole teaching of scripture concerning Christ and his mission and his word and his work all that gets poured into your prayer...

45:29 - 46:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Incorporate the discipline of thanksgiving into family worship, ensuring praise precedes requests.

He alludes to the biblical story of the ten lepers, where only one returned to give thanks, to illustrate the common human tendency to receive blessings without expressing gratitude.

until you cast yourself upon the Lord Jesus Christ where by what means were you stripped of your own righteousness glad to find yourself accepted in the beloved until that issue is settled my friend you cannot pray but if in grace God has brought you then will you not be stirred up to pray with acceptable prayer prayer that has a proper object the God of the Lord Jesus Christ you see now the relationship between understanding the word and prayer the more you know of the whole teaching of scripture concerning Christ and his mission and his word and his work all that gets poured into your prayer...

45:29 - 46:59 Read in full sermon