1 Peter 4:7-11

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

1. Pray Passionately

“The end of the world is coming soon, Therefore be earnest and disciplined in your prayers” Because of the shortness of time we need to be serious and sober-minded. We are called to exercise self-control so that our passions don’t dominate and deviate us from God’s plan. It’s the opposite of living for our lusts, spelled out in the previous passage. Instead of getting all whacked-out about what’s going in our world, we’re called to worship through pray. What’s interesting is that the word prayer here is in the plural, meaning we must engage in all sorts of prayers: private prayer, public prayer, prayers of petition and prayers of praise. We tend to limit prayer and when we do we limit its power. Disciples are called to be disciplined in prayer, it’s the picture of a soldier serving on sentry duty. being “disciplined” is more than just being structured it means surveying, seeing what’s happening in the world and then praying with purpose. Peter is telling us to pay attention and then to position our problems before God through prayer. Our problem is that we either, don’t pay attention and get attacked, or we pay attention to the problems and panic. We expend huge amounts of emotional energy panicking when we could be praying. I wonder what would happen if we spend as much time in worship as we do in worry? Prayer gives priority to God the provider not to the problems. Prayer puts our problems into perspective because it lets us look at life through the long lens of God’s plan not the limited lens of the culture. Prayer prioritizes our lives according to God’s plan not the problems. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray he taught us that prayer not only provides us with perspective but that it should prioritize our lives according to God’s plan. “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” As I have said before prayer is about getting God’s will accomplished on earth not man’s wants accomplished in heaven. Unfortunately many Christians give priority to the problems and panic instead of pray. We end up hiding and holding back instead of holding onto hope. Instead of being reenergized we respond by retreating. Are you letting the problems rob you of life and steal your joy, where instead of being energized you’re exhausted? Are you settling for a second rate life, where your zest for life has been replaced by zombie? Problems are like parasites they will suck you dry and steal your strength, but prayer has the power to kills the parasites. Because prayer puts our problems into perspective we can partake in the praise, we can put our energy into worship and not worry. Sadly for many Christians their prayer life consists mostly of prayers of petition and rarely prayers of praise. When was the last time you came into the presence of God not with your wants but with worship? When was the last time you turned to prayer just to proclaim your love to God, when was the last time you pour out your praise in prayer? Instead of reacting to the problem we are to respond in prayer, we are to be proactive not reactive. When we become people who passionately pray it forces the problems into the peripheral and brings God’s plan into focus. It helps us to live life in light of the fact that Christ is coming back which helps us to see how much we get tripped up by the trivial things and how many activities we engage in that don’t make any eternal difference. Sadly so much of what Christians do has about as much effect as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Why does Peter start with prayer because prayer positions us to see and seek God’s plan. Many don’t see prayer as proactive, they want to skip past prayer and onto the practical side of serving, but until you submit to God’s plan you will serve according to self, it will be about you way not God’s Will.  Prayer positions us to participate in practical Christianity. Prayer is not a place to hide from service it’s a platform from which to pursue service.