Four Ways that Prayer is Nurtured, Part 1

The point: Wrestle with the question of what convictions nourish a pervasive atmosphere of prayer, recognizing that without these 'taproots,' prayerfulness will wither.

A tree bearing abundant, healthy fruit implies a healthy root system, proper pruning, and nourishment. This illustrates that a church marked by pervasive prayerfulness (healthy fruit) has deep, nourishing convictions (healthy roots) that sustain it.

upon a tree in the time of its fruit bearing, and you were to see upon that tree an abundance of well-shaped, healthy-looking, properly developed apples or pears or peaches, whatever kind of fruit that tree might be bearing, you would have every reason to assume that that tree had been properly pruned, properly fertilized, supplied with sufficient moisture, and that its root system was healthy. You would have every reason to make those assumptions if you saw big, well-formed, luscious fruit hanging on the boughs of that tree. Jesus said, You make the tree good, and its fruit good, or the tree ...

5:07 - 6:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain the conviction that the church is totally dependent upon the power of God to fulfill His purpose, lest the root of pervasive prayer wither.

Just as oxygen is not optional for human life, prayer is not optional for the life, well-being, and usefulness of the church. This emphasizes the indispensable nature of prayer.

Most gladly will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may spread itself like a tent over me. My brethren, if we do not maintain this conviction that the church is totally dependent upon the power of God to fulfill the purpose of God, then the root of a pervasive atmosphere of prayer will wither and will die. Now note that I didn't say we can do nothing religious, nothing seemingly spiritual without the power of God, but rather that we cannot fulfill the purpose of God for the church. God has reserved to Himself all of the power necessary to fulfill every facet of the purpose of H...

16:09 - 17:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Never draw back from the heart's persuasion and unreserved confession of the absolute sovereignty of God, while also being persuaded that this sovereign God accomplishes His will through the church that prays.

A person ignoring health principles but expecting good health because an Uncle John lived long despite poor habits is guilty of wicked presumption. This illustrates that expecting God to work in power without prayer is wicked presumption, as God ordains means.

That deals with wrong motives. But James begins by dealing with prayerlessness, not asking. And I say then, by way of application, we must never draw back from our heart's persuasion, and our unreserved confession of the absolute sovereignty of God. I trust that until Christ returns in this increasingly man-centered age, when people act as though they are the masters of their own faith and the captains of their own souls, that in this place there will be a people who believe into every atom of their being the truth of Ephesians 1.11 that the God whom we worship works all things after the couns...

33:54 - 35:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually keep before us the principle that prayer is nurtured by the conviction that the conditions for answered prayer are real, reasonable, and attainable by the grace of God.

The promise of lunch at a seminar is conditional upon attending the Saturday morning sessions. This simple 'if, then' example clarifies what Martin means by 'conditions' for answered prayer.

we must be convinced that there is ordinarily this discernible relationship between the operations of His power to accomplish those ends and the prayers of His people. But then thirdly, if we would have a healthy root system causing us to become and remain and increasingly be marked as a healthy church with an atmosphere pervasive in prayerfulness, then this third principle is one that we must continually keep before us. It's this. Prayer is nurtured by the conviction that the conditions for answered prayer are real, reasonable, and attainable by the grace of God. Prayer is nurtured by the con...

39:29 - 40:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually keep before us the principle that prayer is nurtured by the conviction that the conditions for answered prayer are real, reasonable, and attainable by the grace of God.

Setting an unreasonable and unattainable condition, like leaping over the main auditorium to get lunch, mocks the promise. This illustrates that God's conditions for answered prayer are reasonable and attainable, not mocking.

Suppose we were to say, if you show up in the church parking lot Saturday morning and leap over the main auditorium and land on Horseneck Road, you will have lunch, sir. Well, I'm mocking you with any promise of lunch because I've set up an absolutely unreasonable and unattainable condition. Now, God doesn't do that. The conditions that He sets forth for answered prayer are attainable by the grace of God.

42:13 - 42:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Live in our Bibles if we want to pray effectively, allowing Christ's words to abide in us and shape our desires according to God's will.

Martin recounts being deeply impacted by Pastor Ashiel Blaise's prayer, where he recited God's promises back to Him with great fervor. This illustrates what it means to pray according to God's revealed will, with His word abiding richly.

I sought to learn to pray like that as a young Christian, but I was struck with how little I had learned it the first time I prayed with my dear Jonathan, Pastor Ashiel Blaise. I preached to a group of ministers there in England, 1970 or 71, and I saw this handsome black man sitting on the front row, transfixed. I don't think he blinked once while I preached. When I was done, everyone left, he was still sitting there.

46:01 - 46:33 Read in full sermon