Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: Thanksgiving aligns our hearts with God. Thanksgiving makes an acknowledgment that God's God and we're not. Thanksgiving shows that we have an awareness of who God is and what he's doing in our lives.

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Devotion. Let's listen as JP gives us part one of Prayer.

JP Jones: Well, this morning we start our series going through the book of 1 Thessalonians. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn there. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1. This is probably the first letter that the Apostle Paul wrote. He wrote it around 50 AD. He wrote it to a church that he started.

Acts chapter 17 gives us the background for how the Apostle Paul over a four-week period shared with people in the synagogue in the city of Thessalonica, which is in modern-day Turkey, and as a result of those studies, several people became followers of Jesus Christ and a church was started. Paul continued on his journey and a couple months later, he wrote this letter of 1 Thessalonians to a brand-new church.

And the first thing that the Apostle Paul addresses in this book, the first thing that he addresses to this brand-new church is this whole subject of prayer. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 1 to 4: "Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you." Do you know prayer changes things? Prayer changes people, prayer changes families, prayer changes a church.

And the Apostle Paul reminds us of this priority and this power of prayer as he opens this letter. Listen to some of the words on prayer that those who have gone before us have penned. Andrew Murray said this: "Some people pray just to pray, and some people pray to know God." John Lake said: "There is a mighty difference between saying prayers and really praying."

John Wesley said: "I have so much to do that I need every day to spend several hours to begin my day so I can get everything else done." Martin Lloyd Jones said: "Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you're reading, the impulse to pray may come when you're battling. I'd make it an absolute law to always obey the impulse to pray."

Ed Cole said: "Wishing is never a substitute for praying." Francis Fenelon said this: "Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity, none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer. Most people consider the exercise a fatiguing ceremony, which they are justified in abridging as much as possible.

Even those whose profession or fears lead them to pray, pray with such languor and wanderings of mind that their prayers, far from drawing down blessings, only increase their condemnation." E.M. Bounds said: "God is not looking for better methods but for better men, not better organization but for men of prayer."

God's looking for people who will pray. God changes the world through prayer. Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul says: "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you."

What I want to share with you are some observations from this passage with respect to how we ought to pray, how we ought to be impacted by this instruction of prayer, and here's the first direction: it's that we ought to pray thankfully. We ought to pray thankfully. Paul says: "We always thank God for all of you."

Thanksgiving aligns our heart with God. Thanksgiving makes an acknowledgment that God's God and we're not. Thanksgiving shows that we have an awareness of who God is and what he's doing in our lives. In particular in this passage, Paul mentions giving thanks for the people who were part of that church there at Thessalonica.

Do you know there are people in our sphere of influence that God has placed in our lives as a blessing? And we need to recognize it, and we need to give thanks for it. In fact, in Colossians chapter 3, the book right before 1 Thessalonians, this is what Paul says about this theme of giving thanks.

He says in Colossians 3:15: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body, you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

Verse 17: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." In the space of three verses, Paul says we are to pray with thanks, we are to pray with thanksgiving, we are to give thanks. Giving thanks is an acknowledgment of God's work in our life, of God's blessing in our life, of God's provision in our life.

That's why every Monday morning we gather together at our church office—all the staff—and we spend some time in prayer. We have Bible study together and then we have a staff meeting. But the first thing that we do in our prayer is we just go around and share with one another how God's been working in our lives over the past week.

We share what God has done in the worship service, we hear what God has done with the children's ministry, with the youth ministry. We give thanks for conversations that took place in the patio after the church services. We hear from one another, we develop some momentum from one another with respect to how God is working in our lives, how God is blessing, how God is providing, and we spend some time giving thanks.

Do you realize how easy it is to become negative? Do you realize how every one of us has a propensity to get in this spiral of critical, negative thinking? You can almost see it happening in a family. There's one comment, then another comment, and then another comment, and then another comment, and what started off as a good day, now you're in negative land.

We easily can focus on the negative, we easily can become critical, we easily can talk about how we've been disappointed in our expectations. For some of us, it is an act of obedience to give thanks. And that's why Paul says, by the way, at the end of this book in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5: "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Giving thanks is an act of obedience. It's an act of recognizing who God is and how God has made provision for our lives. And as we put this into practice, the first line of our giving of thanks ought to be for the people in our life. It ought to be for our family members, our friends, our neighbors, coworkers, the people that we're connected with at church.

There's a sphere of influence that all of us have, and the people in our sphere of influence are not there by accident, and we're to give thanks for those people. Here's a second area in which we ought to give thanks: it's for the specific spiritual blessings that God has given to us.

In Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul wrote this, Ephesians 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love, he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, through whom he's lavished his grace upon us to the praise of his glory." The Apostle Paul says that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. And then he describes some of those blessings—what God has done for us in choosing us and loving us and revealing Christ to us and bringing us into his family.

For some of us, giving thanks is a choice. And what we need to do as an act of obedience is to recount what's true about us in Christ, to recount what those spiritual blessings are and actually give thanks to God for every spiritual blessing. But there's one more area in our lives that we need to give thanks, and this is probably the most difficult. We need to actually give thanks for trials.

You might be thinking, JP, did I just hear you right? We're supposed to give thanks for trials? Well, remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says, "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." And James chapter 1 says, "Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result that you might be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

And Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans chapter 5, says that we rejoice in this grace in which we stand. But not only this, we also rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance proven character, and proven character hope, and hope does not disappoint.

You see, I like the theology from the movie Rudy where Rudy, the would-be football player at Notre Dame, goes to the Catholic priest and expresses his heartache over the fact that here he is year after year trying to make the Notre Dame football team, and he's just on the dummy squad and he gets no recognition, and it doesn't seem fair to him.

And the priest looks at him and says, "There are two things that I've come to understand: there is a God and I'm not him." Ever feel like that? Because you think if I was God, I'd make my life a whole lot different than the way it is. There needs to be as an act of faith, as an act of obedience, a giving of thanks for those very things that we would change if we had the power to change them.

Because in the act of giving thanks, you see, there's a surrender to God. And when we surrender to God, we begin to see how he has a plan that's a lot bigger than we are and how he can use everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—to work out his purposes for our lives. Paul here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, right away encouraging this church with his words of prayer says, "I give thanks. We're to pray thankfully."

Here's a second observation from 1 Thessalonians: we're to pray intercedingly. Now, if you look up that word in the dictionary, you probably won't find it. In fact, when I typed this out to do the PowerPoint, it came out as a misspell, but I think you know what I mean. We need to pray by interceding for others. Intercession is when you pray for someone else.

Paul here is saying, "I'm praying for you guys. We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brethren loved by God, that he's chosen you."

Paul is emphatic that he's praying for these people. We need to pray intercedingly for people. In fact, in every one of Paul's letters, he begins his letter with an acknowledgment of prayer and with a specific statement of the prayers that he's praying for the people that he's writing to. I mean, this guy's prayer list must have been a mile long because he prayed for so many people.

And you know why? Because prayer changes things. And when we pray for people, it touches people's lives. Think about what would happen if we took this seriously. Think about if we embraced this concept of intercession. With the spheres of influence that we have here as a church, if we took this prayer of intercession seriously, every one of us would be praying for someone else, and someone else would be praying for us.

Don't you think that'd make a difference in our lives, make a difference in our community, make a difference in the world? Prayer changes things. That's why every Thursday morning we have a prayer time up at the office—a men's prayer time. We gather together, and part of that prayer time is we pray specifically for people.

Sometimes we'll pray and with detail talk about what we would ask God to do in that person's life and how we'd want God to touch that life and change that man's life. Sometimes as we pray, we'll just say, you know, just speak out the names of men in the church that you know need God to work in their life today.

And without a lot of elaboration, we just speak out people's names because we know that God knows all of our needs, and God knows what it is that we need from him that particular day. Intercession is praying for people and asking God to do what only God can do for people. In fact, the Bible not only tells us to pray for one another, it actually guides us how we ought to pray for one another.

In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul recorded two prayers that he prayed for the folks at Ephesus, and he says this in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 and following: "For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to the measure of all the fullness of God." Here Paul prays that God would spiritually transform the lives of these believers.

He prays that God's power would be operating on the inside and change them on the inside. He prays that God's love would all of a sudden become crystal clear and they'd know it, they'd understand it, they'd be able to grasp it. He prays that they would be transformed so that they'd be filled up to the very fullness of God.

This is a prayer for spiritual transformation. So when we pray for one another, what God wants us to pray for is that our lives would be changed and that Christ would be real in our hearts and that God's Spirit would literally change us and God's love would fill our lives. If you don't know how to pray for someone, pray this prayer: Ephesians chapter 3. Mark it.

Start praying this for your kids, start praying this for your spouse. Pray this for me. Pray this for the people that you care about. Pray that God would so work in their lives that he would transform their life. That's one of the things that God asks us to pray for, and that's the spiritual transformation of one another. And if you don't know how to pray, just use this prayer as a model and pray it back to God for the people in your world.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just five dollars. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653.

Or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250. For your gift of 25 dollars or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653.

Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. Do you know that prayer changes lives? It is amazing to see in scripture how God honors the prayers of faithful people. When we pray, God hears. When we pray, God responds. When we pray, we're touching the heart of God and releasing his power into our lives. That's why there are so many promises about prayer in the Bible and that's why when you read in the Gospels about the life of Jesus, you see how Jesus is praying all the time.

And prayer can change your life today. Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul is talking about his ministry with these believers at Thessalonica. They were a group of people that he loved, that he cared for, and for a period of about three or four weeks, he shared the gospel with and began a ministry of discipleship in their lives.

Here, a few months later, he's writing back to this church and telling them about how he cares for them and telling them about how he prays for them. It says this in 1 Thessalonians 1, starting at verse 2: "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you." This passage tells us that prayer was a vital part of the Apostle Paul's ministry as he planted churches, as he shared the gospel, as he helped fulfill the Great Commission. And prayer is to be a vital part of our lives. In fact, one of the primary ingredients of our prayers is to be the giving of thanks.

Paul says that he thanked God continually for the lives of these believers at Thessalonica. God wants our prayers to be filled with thanksgiving. He wants our prayers to be filled with intercession for people. He wants our prayers to be filled with gratitude for who he is and what he's doing and how he's working in people's lives. In fact, in Colossians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul says this, in Colossians 3, verses 15 to 17:

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."

There in that passage, three times the Apostle Paul mentions the giving of thanks, the praying with gratitude, the being thankful for what God has done in our lives. You see, thankfulness, thanksgiving is really an attitude of faith. When we give thanks to God for the people in our lives, when we give thanks to God for the work of God in our life, what we're doing is we're acknowledging that God is in charge.

We're acknowledging that God has a plan, and we're acknowledging that we're trusting God and what he's doing in and through us. You see, we're to give thanks not only for all the blessings that we have, we're to give thanks not only for how people treat us with love and encouragement, we're to give thanks for everything. We're to give thanks even for the difficult people in our lives.

We're to give thanks for the tough circumstances in our lives. That's why it says in 1 Thessalonians at the end of this book, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, it says this: "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." The giving of thanks is an acknowledgment of God's sovereign plan for our lives. And the giving of thanks for people is an appreciation to God for the people in our world.

It's an appreciation for how he's placed them in our lives and how he is using them in our lives. Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, Paul gave thanks for the people that he had the opportunity to have a relationship with. God wants our prayers to be filled with thanksgiving, especially thanksgiving for people, the people that he's put in our world.

And not only that, he wants us to pray for those people that God would be working in their lives. He wants us to be interceding for them. That's why there are all these prayers in the Bible in Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1, 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. In fact, in virtually every letter the Apostle Paul wrote, there's a prayer in that letter for the people he's writing to because God honors our prayers.

God listens to our prayers. God changes people's lives through our prayers. So as we pray for people, as we give thanks for people, we're to be praying that God would transform their lives, that God would release his Holy Spirit to do an inner work, to change people to become more and more like Jesus Christ.

And if you're not really sure how to pray for people, pray the prayers of the Bible. Take a prayer like out of Ephesians chapter 3. Ask God to make his Spirit known and real in the lives of people that you're praying for. In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul prays for the folks at Ephesus that the Holy Spirit would be working in their lives, that his power would be released in their lives, that his love would be real for them, and that they would know God to his very fullness.

If you're not sure how to pray for people, take that prayer in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 to 21, and just pray that back to God. Pray that for your spouse, pray that for your kids, pray that for your neighbors, pray that for your pastor, pray that for the people in your small group. Because when we pray, when we give thanks, when we claim God's word, God answers and changes people's lives.

Maybe you'd like to pray with me right now. Lord, I ask you to do what only you can do in our lives. I ask you to release your Holy Spirit to change us and make us more and more like Jesus Christ. Thank you, God, for who you are. Thank you for what you're doing in our lives. We ask you to make us more like Christ. And we ask you to do it by the power of your Holy Spirit. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills.

For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.