Prayers of Acts (Acts 4:23-31)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, April 12, 2026

Tim Keller shares:

In the 1720s, the church was in such a dismal state that Cotton Mather, a great New England Congregational minister, in the last year and a half of his life organized prayer cells to pray for a mighty visitation of God. He himself got up every day and spent all day for the last 400-and-some days of his life praying for a visitation, for a descent of the presence of God. So there’s the crisis and there’s the extraordinary coming out.

Cotton Mather died in 1727, and in 1727 a revival broke out. It broke out in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Here’s what’s interesting: At the same time in 1727, a group of Moravians led by a guy named Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf started a 100-year prayer meeting. That means they set aside a room and a place in which they were going to pray for a mighty visitation of God in the world, and they decided at least one person would always be in that room praying for that so the prayer meeting would never stop. It went on from 1727 into the 1820s. It’s called the 100-Year Prayer Meeting. It started in 1727.

What happened on both sides of the Atlantic was an extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit of God, a tremendous movement that historians still can’t figure out. What happened was just literally crowds, thousands upon thousands of people who showed no interest in Christianity, began to flock into the church, began to pack the churches out to listen to the Word of God preached, and were converted in droves.^[1]

We are focusing on prayer. Today, I want to focus on the disciples’ prayer for boldness.

That is my theme: The disciples pray for boldness. 

1. Context:
   1. Now, allow me to review what is happening in this passage:
   2. At the beginning of Acts chapter 3, Peter and John go to the Temple at the time of prayer. A lame beggar was there, asking for money. Peter said, “Silver or gold I don’t have, but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” The man is healed. This attracted a lot of attention, and Peter preached a sermon. Peter’s message reached about 5000 people with the Gospel, but this aggravated the Jewish authorities, and Peter and John were thrown in prison for the night. The next day, Peter and John spoke before the Jewish leadership, and Peter again preached the Gospel (Acts 4:8 says that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit). Eventually, they were released.
   3. After their release from prison, they return to meet with their own people.
   4. They immediately went back to share with the other disciples what God had done.
   5. Their prayer includes allusions to Old Testament prayers.
2. Let’s look at this Spirit-Filled Prayer:
   1. Acts 4:23–24 (ESV): When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…
   2. They start their prayer by acknowledging who God is in relation to who they are. We should do the same. God created everything that we see and feel, including the stars in the sky.
   3. Verse 24 starts their prayer as “Sovereign Lord…” This means that God is in control. This means “absolute ruler.” The Greek word translated here is the source of the English word “despot.”[2] God is the absolute ruler, and they acknowledged that as they began their prayer.
   4. Tim Keller: Now quickly, one of the reasons people get very confused is they say, “I thought God’s presence is everywhere. How can we talk about God’s presence coming down into the church, or coming down here or there?” The answer is, the Christian understanding of God is very different than the New Age understanding of God and the Eastern understanding of God, from which the New Age gets its understanding of God.
   5. In fact, if you want to think about theologies, there are really only three. You have a Western theology, you have an Eastern theology, and you have a Christian theology. The Western theologies, the old Western religions … the Norse religions and the Greek religions and the Roman religions … had personal gods but who were not infinite. They were personal but not infinite. They were personal. Zeus, Apollo, all those guys, they were personal but they weren’t infinite. They made mistakes. They did dumb things. They could get too angry and afterwards regret it. Personal but not infinite.
   6. On the other hand, the Eastern understanding of God, from which the New Age gets its understanding of God, is God is infinite but not personal. God is a force. God is everywhere. God is the authentic ground of being. But you don’t talk to God, and he certainly doesn’t talk back to you. He doesn’t say things to you. He can’t speak to you. You can become conscious of him. You can tap into him and his power, but even using the word him is just an anthropomorphism. It’s not the right way to talk. Because he’s infinite but he’s not personal.
   7. The Christian God is both personal and infinite. He’s a person, he can talk to you, he can know you, he can speak to you, but he’s also infinite. That means, therefore, there are two aspects to his presence….the Christian understanding of God is he’s personal and infinite. So that means in one sense he’s everywhere, but there’s another sense of his presence, which means his relational presence.^[3]
   8. They were praying in unity. The Scripture says that they “raised their voices together in prayer…” This doesn’t mean they all prayed simultaneously, but they were praying in unity.
   9. Too often, our churches and prayers are hindered because of our divisions. Hence, I am going to say that our divisions hinder the Spirit’s work in our prayer life. In a few verses, we will see that this group of Christians experienced the Holy Spirit. I think we are missing the Holy Spirit because of our division.[4]
   10. What we need to see here is that their prayer was in unity, and God blessed them with a special baptism of the Holy Spirit.
   11. Now, allow me to return to their prayer and acknowledgment of God as sovereign. Do we acknowledge that God is sovereign?
   12. Acknowledging God as sovereign includes the idea that we must surrender to His will.
   13. Then, their prayer includes Scripture.
   14. Acts 4:25–26 (ESV) ²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— ²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
   15. They quote Psalm 2:1-2 in reference to Jesus.
   16. Lastly, about God’s sovereignty, their prayer acknowledged that God’s plan included threats against Christians. Verse 27 references the crucifixion of Christ. Verse 28 references that in God’s sovereignty, this was planned beforehand.
   17. But they never complained, and that is my transition to their one request.
3. They prayed for boldness and an expansion of the Gospel.
   1. Acts 4:29–31 (ESV)
   2. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
   3. They never complained. We would expect them to pray that their threats would stop, but they don’t. They pray that God takes their threats seriously. They had just been thrown in prison, and they prayed for nothing about that.
   4. They ask that God grant them boldness to preach God’s Word.
   5. Verse 30 is a prayer for miracles.
   6. Do we pray for miracles? I must ask if I am praying for miracles. That is a challenge. We serve a God who brings about miracles.
   7. Verse 31 is a confirmation of their Spirit-filled prayer.
   8. The place is shaken.
   9. Did this really happen? It may be metaphorical, but I favor it is literal. God is so great that when He is truly present, there are consequences that defy natural laws.
   10. They also speak the Word of God boldly. That is the answer to their prayer.
   11. How, many times (you’ll see in the Bible), when God’s presence comes down, there’s an earthquake. Exodus 19, what does it say? God came down on Mount Sinai and it says, “… the whole mountain trembled violently …” God came down in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, and the whole place shook with a sound of a mighty rushing wind.
   12. When Deborah and Barak led the great battle, they led Israel against the Syrians, she sings about this in Judges 5. She says, “When you went out with our army, O LORD, when you marched out with us, the earth shook.”^[5]
   13. Christians, let’s do the same. Whether or not you are a preacher, preach God’s Word, including the Gospel. Do this with boldness. Pray in groups of Christians; pray in this manner; experience the Holy Spirit; and get ready. Lastly, set aside diversity and instead embrace unity for the cause of the Gospel. Then, you ought to be ready for the Holy Spirit’s work.
   14. We need the type of prayer illustrated in this passage. I certainly do. We need, I need, Spirit-filled prayer meetings in our churches.

Jonathan Edwards… was a man of great spiritual insight. His diaries are filled with fascinating little statements. Here’s one. He says, “One day I was walking into my father’s pasture for contemplation, and I began to pray, and there came into my mind so sweet a sense of the glorious grace of God, as I cannot express it. I suddenly seemed to see them both in sweet conjunction; his majesty and his meekness joined together. It was an awful sweetness, a gentle majesty, a holy gentleness.”^[6]

Let’s keep praying for the salvation of our family and friends.

Let’s keep looking for opportunities to share Jesus with others.

C.S. Lewis put it this way. There’s Deep Magic from before the dawn of time. Jesus Christ, by dying in our place, by paying, by taking the earthquake of justice on himself … Because Jesus was shaken utterly, he has broken death. He broke it. He shook death. Do you see the death of death in the death of Christ? Do you see the shaking of shaking in the shaking of Christ? Do you see it?^[7]

^[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[2] Witherington III 201

^[3] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[4] We may be able to take 1 Peter 3:7 which references our relationship with our spouse as hindering our prayer life to also mean if we are divided as a church, it hinders our prayer life. Psalm 66:18 talks about cherished sin hindering our prayers.

^[5] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[6] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[7] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Resurrection Sunday

April 5, 2026

Over a century ago, young Francis Griffiths and her cousin took pictures of fairies dancing in the forest. What began as the imagination of little girls turned into an international sensation known as the Cottingley Fairies incident of 1920. Dr. Merrick Burrow, the curator of an exhibit that commemorated the strange incident told the BBC article, “I do not think anybody really believed it . . . But they couldn’t explain how it had been done either.”

The fairy pictures looked so real that they even convinced none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the famously logical Sherlock Holmes stories. Initially skeptical, Conan Doyle became a believer and worked to promote the images as evidence of the supernatural. It wasn’t until decades later that one of the girls confessed that they had used paper cut-outs from a 1915 children’s book. “I never even thought of it being a fraud,” Frances Griffiths told the BBC in 1983, “It was just Elsie and I having a bit of fun.” Even so, their “bit of fun” was enough to convince some very smart people that these girls had discovered a window between our world and the world of spirits and fairies.

How do otherwise intelligent people fall for such things? Conan Doyle wasn’t a fool, but he also wasn’t disinterested. He was someone who was very curious about spiritualism, and he’d lost a son during the First World War. The prank gave him hope that there was something beyond this world, and that if so, it may mean he would see his boy again.

We want to believe that there’s more to this world. We want to know that reality is not limited to only what we can see. But we are also fallen. Our senses are not clear. Without the clarifying light of God’s truth, we stumble in the darkness. And yet, even as we stumble, the longing persists and points to a higher reality. As C.S.Lewis put it in Mere Christianity, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”[1]

Are we made for another world? Are we longing for something more?

I believe we are longing for more.

My theme today: Jesus’s death and resurrection corrects our greatest problem.

1. The problem- The answer is in Genesis.
   1. The ultimate problem is sin.
   2. I would argue that everyone understands the problem as people being mean, sick, and dying.
   3. We can look at Genesis 3:15-24 to read about the origins of sickness, hardship, and death.
   4. Things aren’t as they should be.
   5. BLAISE PASCAL shared:
   6. Certainly nothing offends us more rudely than this doctrine [of original sin], and yet without this mystery, the most incomprehensible of all, we are incomprehensible to ourselves.[2]
   7. The first and most fundamental element of any worldview is the way it answers the questions of origins—where the universe came from and how human life began. The second element is the way it explains the human Why is there war and suffering, disease and death?[3]
   8. Someone once quipped that the doctrine of original sin is the only philosophy empirically validated by thirty-five centuries of recorded human history.[4]
   9. In Genesis 4, we see the first murder. Then, in Genesis 4 and 5, we see genealogies that repeat: “and he died, and he died, and he died…” Death is a consequence of sin.
   10. Every time we experience the death of a loved one, we know something isn’t right.
   11. Jesus died so ultimately, we don’t experience eternal death.
2. Let’s walk through John 20:1-10.
   1. John 20:1: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
   2. Jesus has been crucified; the disciples are in mourning. But they do not realize that Jesus cannot be kept down.
   3. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb to see Jesus.
   4. She was the first to the tomb, and she saw the stone rolled away.
   5. John 20:2: So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
   6. Mary did the logical thing; she went to Peter and John. This is likely John. Usually, when we read, “The disciple whom Jesus loved,” we believe it is John. She runs to Peter and John. She was in a hurry.
   7. John 20:3-4: So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
   8. Peter and John run to the tomb, but John runs faster.
   9. John 20:5–10 (ESV)
   10. ⁵ And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to their homes.
   11. They arrive at the tomb and find it empty.
   12. John saw and believed.
   13. Verse 9: They had not understood the Scripture that He must rise from the dead.
3. Jesus rose, and so will we.
   1. Because of Jesus and the resurrection, we have life (Romans 6:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
   2. Look at two passages:
   3. Look at Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   4. Look at 1 Cor. 15:55-57: ⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
      O death, where is your sting?”
   5. ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
   6. We do not have to fear death anymore. We were created to live forever, and under sin, we would have to fear death because death brought judgment. But now, under Christ, we no longer must fear death. Jesus took our punishment. We were created to live forever, either in heaven or in hell. Because Jesus lives, we will live eternally in paradise.
   7. The resurrection separates Christianity from other religions. Our Savior lives; we will live again. Death no longer has a sting.
   8. This is the case with you; you can have eternal life in Jesus. You can have a relationship with Jesus.
   9. Where are you in your life right now?
   10. Have you trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior?
   11. Do you know that since He lives, you will live eternally? Do you believe that?
   12. Do you know that your sins are washed away by Jesus?
   13. Do you know that you do not face life’s challenges alone?
   14. Is it the case for you that because Jesus lives, you can face tomorrow?
   15. Think about this question: Does the resurrection give you hope?
   16. Some of you may remember this, but I think it is a powerful way to close:
4. So, the disciples were changed by Jesus.
   1. The disciples learned the same thing we learn– Our Savior Lives
   2. What is the significance of the resurrection? As I make each of these statements, I would like you to respond with Our Savior Lives!
   3. We can have a relationship with Jesus because He lives. If He were not resurrected, we would not have a relationship with Him. Our Savior Lives!
   4. Christ is our Savior who cannot die again. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again (Romans 6:9).[5] Our Savior Lives!
   5. Because of the resurrection, we have new birth: According to his great mercy, [God the Father] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).[6] Our Savior Lives!
   6. We have forgiveness of sins because of the resurrection. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).[7] Our Savior Lives!
   7. Because Jesus is raised, we have no condemnation. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).[8] Our Savior Lives!
   8. Because of the resurrection, we have the Lord’s personal fellowship and protection.[9] “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Our Savior Lives!
   9. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we know that we will also be raised from the dead: [We know] that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. (2 Corinthians 4:14; also Romans 6:4; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20)[10] Our Savior Lives!
   10. If Jesus had not been resurrected, there would never be Christianity.Our Savior Lives!
   11. The Romans would have shown the grave, and it would be over. Our Savior Lives!
   12. Jesus’ resurrection shows the grave could not contain Him. Our Savior Lives!
   13. Jesus’ resurrection shows that He is the victor. Our Savior Lives!
   14. Jesus’ resurrection shows again that the miracles are true. Jesus has the power and authority over all nature. It’s not hard to figure out: He can break out because he wasn’t forced in. He letshimself be harassed and black-balled and scorned and shoved around and killed.[11] Our Savior Lives!
   15. No one can keep him down because no one ever knocked him down. He lay down when he was ready.[12] Our Savior Lives!
   16. And all God’s people responded with Amen—AMEN!
   17. Prayer

[1] Adapted from Breakpoint; We Want to Believe; Timothy D. Padgett and John Stonestreet; 02.27.2026; accessed 03.01.2026

https://breakpoint.org/we-want-to-believe/?utm_campaign=Product%20-%20Breakpoint%20Daily%20BPD&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_eVZ_CncYcjbpbcy0INtNy-zK9D6BCZYYWx40VurAynHqJlJdKdxgyNcYld0D5juc0PjzQ1CJMpHXtLp9F0KxsaDJH8w&_hsmi=405985705&utm_content=405985705&utm_source=hs_email

[2] Colson, Charles. How Now Shall We Live? (p. 147). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

[3] Ibid, 147

[4] Ibid, 150

[5] http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/can-t-keep-jesus-down

[6] ibid.

[7] ibid.

[8] ibid.

[9] ibid.

[10] ibid.

[11] ibid.

[12] ibid.

Palm Sunday: Pray, Surrender, Share (Matthew 21:1-11)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 29, 2026

Royal processions from England to Thailand to South Africa have certain elements in common: uniformed soldiers, banners and flags, and a gloriously bedecked king—riding in an ornate horse-drawn carriage or carried on a golden, jeweled throne.[1]

Jesus is the King. How did He enter Jerusalem?

My theme: As was prophesied, Jesus entered Jerusalem as King.

The Application:

Pray, Surrender, and share.

1. Jesus enters Jerusalem as the King.
   1. In verses 1-3, we see the preparation.
   2. Matthew 21:1-3: Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
   3. Jesus is going to enter Jerusalem.
   4. He will allow Himself to be worshipped.
   5. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.^[2]
   6. This borrowing of a donkey may be seen in terms of royal emissaries temporarily impressing (demanding the service of) an animal; Jesus as Lord has the right to whatever his followers claim to own. On the historical level, the donkey’s owner probably saw it as helpful hospitality to visitors to the feast or perhaps as the honor of helping on his way a famous rabbi. Some commentators have also suggested that the owner was away and those who kept the house, hearing that “the master” had need of the donkey, thought they were sending it to its real owner; but they surely would have known the other servants in their household, and they recognized that the disciples were not part of the household. Cf. perhaps Genesis 49:10–11.^[3]
   7. Jesus plainly refers to himself as the Lord, the sovereign orchestrator of these events.^[4]
   8. In verses 4-5, we see this was done to fulfill prophecy:
   9. Matthew 21:4-5:
   10. ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
   11. This is done to fulfill prophecy (Zech. 9:9).^[5]
   12. Grk “Tell the daughter of Zion” (the phrase “daughter of Zion” is an idiom for the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “people of Zion”).^[6]
   13. The text is messianic, as ancient interpreters generally acknowledged, but applying this part to himself redefines Jesus’ messiahship: officials used donkeys for civil, not military, processions (e.g., 1 Kings 1:33). Thus this text is not a “triumphal entry” in the sense of Roman triumphal processions; it is Jerusalem’s reception of a meek and peaceful king.^[7]
   14. In verses 6-11, we see the parade.
   15. Matthew 21:6-11:
   16. ⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
   17. Matthew alone mentions two animals. Having the mother donkey move alongside her unbroken colt would be the best way to calm it during the noisy entrance into Jerusalem. ^[8]
   18. They are worshipping Jesus.
   19. Hosanna- literally means “O save us.”
2. Notice Jesus came in humility.
   1. Jesus came on a donkey.
   2. He did not come on a war horse.
   3. As one writes:
   4. Any general who rides into a battle on a donkey is going to be slaughtered. You’d be better on foot. You’d be better on a steed. But if you ride in on a donkey, you’re going to be slaughtered.^[1]
   5. Further:
   6. Jesus is saying: “I’m the King, but not a king like you think. What if I did free you from the Romans? Do you realize if I freed you from the Romans, if that was the only liberation I gave you, you would turn around and enslave somebody else? You know why? If I liberate you from the Romans, what are you going to do about your guilt? What are you going to do about that deep sense of nakedness and spiritual emptiness you have? What are you going to do about the fact that you are desperately trying to prove yourself?”
   7. He says, “What are you going to do about the fact of your real slavery? While you are trampling down other races and other classes to prove to yourself that you’re significant, you have a slavery that goes far deeper than the slavery of Rome. If all I do is liberate you from Rome, what are we going to do about liberating you from death, which is the thing that is running your life and causing all the breakdown in the world? I’ve come to give you real liberation.”^[2]
   8. Jesus entered Jerusalem to die for our sins and rise again.
   9. He entered Jerusalem to die.
   10. He entered to serve us by dying in our place.
3. Surrender to King Jesus.
   1. How do you respond to King Jesus?
   2. Are you surrendered to Jesus?
   3. Is He your Lord?
   4. As one writes:
   5. When Jesus Christ comes to your intellect, because of his claims, because he says, “I’m the absolute King,” what he’s doing is saying, “You can despise me horribly as a lunatic, or you can throw everything over and serve me completely, but there’s nothing in the middle. No person with any intellectual integrity … I will not allow you … Kill me or crown me. Nothing else.”^[3]
4. My theme this year has been prayer.
   1. Are we praying for the lost to be saved?
   2. 2 Peter 3:9–10 (ESV) ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
   3. Jesus is waiting for more to be saved. Then, He will come again.
   4. Share Jesus with others this week.
   5. Share how Jesus saved you from your sins.
   6. Share how Jesus is the hope of the world.
   7. Invite others to our Resurrection Sunday service.
   8. Pray that your friends, family, and others come to know Jesus.

The whole point of the gospel is we’re saved through weakness, not through strength. Every other religion and every other philosophy … whether you get it from something that’s two thousand years old or whether you make it up yourself (they’re all the same) … what they all say is, “I’m going to clean up my life and I’m going to do better. I’m going to save through strength.” That’s what the disciples want. “Save us through strength!” Jesus says, “No! You can’t be saved until you see that you must die.”

You see, Jesus Christ comes and he dies in our place, which means we’re not saved by strength; we’re saved by grace. We’re not saved by our moral efforts; we’re saved by his grace.^[1]

If you come to him and say, “I would like you to be my consultant. I would like you to be my partner. I would like you to be my counselor,” you know what Jesus Christ says? Jesus says, “Oh, I can be more than that. I can be your shepherd. I can be your brother. I can be your guide. I can be your friend. But I won’t be anything unless I’m King. Either I will be King, or I will be nothing. I want all of you or I want none of you.”^[2]

The application is to “Pray, surrender, and share.”

^[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[2] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[1] Today In the Word, Moody Press, Dec 24, 2022, accessed February 23, 2026

https://www.todayintheword.org/daily-devotional/peace-on-earth/into-jerusalem/

^[2] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Mt 21:1.

^[3] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 21:1–3.

^[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1865.

^[5] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Mt 21:4–5.

^[6] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Mt 21:5.

^[7] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 21:4–7.

^[8] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1865.

Elijah’s Prayer Life (1 Kings 17:1-2; James 5:17)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 22, 2026

How does the Bible speak of prayer?

The Bible is filled with promises about the power of prayer in the affairs of history. In the New Testament book of James, the author points out that Elijah, “a man like us,” prayed away the rain in Israel and then prayed it back as a way to confront a corrupt ruler. James concludes that prayer can “have great power and produce wonderful results” (James 5:16). John Calvin, famous for his views of predestination and God’s sovereignty, makes some remarkable statements about prayer based on James’s teaching. He says:

It was a notable event for God to put heaven, in some sense, under the control of Elijah’s prayers, to be obedient to his requests. By his prayers, Elijah kept heaven shut for two years and a half. Then he opened it, and made it suddenly pour with a great rain, from which we may see the miraculous power of prayer.³³²

Calvin is both bold and yet careful in his language. He says that prayer “in some sense” affected the weather conditions in Israel. Obviously, in the ultimate sense, God is in charge of everything that occurs—our prayers could not possibly wrest control of any part of the universe away from God. However, it is part of God’s goodness and appointment that he allows the world to be susceptible to our prayers. How he does this—how he maintains control of history and yet still makes human prayer and action responsible within history—is one of the most practical mysteries of the Bible. In Nehemiah 4, the Jews were rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem when they learned that they were going to be attacked by their enemies. What did they do? “We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet the threat” (Neh 4:9). In Isaiah 38, King Hezekiah was dying and the prophet Isaiah told him so. Then Hezekiah prayed and the Lord replied, “I have heard your prayer … ‌I will add fifteen years to your life” (Is 38:5). And yet, when Isaiah brings this message to the king, he also tells him to prepare a hot dressing and apply it to the infection in order to recover (Is 38:21).^[1]

Today, my theme is:

Notice, Elijah, a man of prayer.

1. Who was Elijah?
   1. Between about 875-797 BC. Elijah and Elisha prophesied.
   2. Elijah and his successor Elisha figure prominently in 1 and 2 Kings as they prophesied against the wickedness of Ahab and Joram (also called Jehoram) of Israel. Elijah’s opposition to pagan worship also put him at odds with Jezebel, Ahab’s Phoenician wife, who supported hundreds of prophets of Baal and Asherah. Eventually Elisha sent someone to anoint Jehu, one of Joram’s commanders, to be the next king and to execute judgment on the entire family of Ahab.^[2]
2. Elijah prays.
   1. We’re going to look at one place where Elijah prays, and God provides.
   2. However, there are several instances in which God worked through Elijah’s prayers.
   3. 1 Kings 17:1: Elijah prophesied no rain, and it didn’t rain for 3 years and 6 months. 1 Kings 17:1 doesn’t use the verb “prayed,” but James 5:17 does.
   4. In 1 Kings 18:20ff, Elijah prays to the Lord and conquers the prophets of Baal. We see him pray in 1 Kings 18:36ff.
   5. 1 Kings 18:36–37 (ESV)
   6. ³⁶ And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
   7. Elijah had an active prayer life, but let’s return to the place he was introduced.
   8. 1 Kings 17:1 (ESV)
   9. Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
   10. The autumn and spring rains and summer dew were necessities for the crops of Israel. The Lord had threatened to withhold these from the Land if His people turned from Him to serve other gods (Lv 26:18, 19; Dt 11:16, 17; 28:23, 24).
   11. Greear:
   12. I once heard prayer compared to the electricity running through the walls of a house. At any given point, there’s enough electricity there to power the refrigerator, heater, and TV, but until the plug makes contact with the socket, none of the power is usable.
   13. If we want our prayer to be difference-making, eternity-altering, and destiny-changing, it has to be Word-based, Spirit-led, unglamorous, slow, persistent, and audacious. As proof, look to the prophet Elijah.
   14. When Elijah declared that there would be no rain in 1 Kings 17, he wasn’t just picking a random target. He based that prayer on Deuteronomy 11:13–17, where God had said that if Israel worshiped idols he would shut up the heavens. Elijah literally prayed that into existence.
   15. And when Elijah declared that God would send rain again (in the following chapter), it was rooted in the second part of the promise in Deuteronomy—that if Israel repented, God would allow the rain to fall again.
   16. In both cases, Elijah was simply praying God’s promises back to him. We have even more promises than Elijah did. By one count, there are over 3,000 promises in Scripture, ready for us to unearth and pray back to God.
   17. Prayer isn’t a random wishlist we present to God; it’s the process of discovering what God wants to give us and asking him for it. So rather than just reading through the Bible, try praying through it.[3]
3. The answer:
   1. James 5:17 (ESV)
   2. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
   3. 1 Kings 18:1 (ESV)
   4. After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.”
   5. The drought proved that Baal, the god of the rains and fertility, was impotent before the Lord.^[4]
   6. The answer comes in 1 Kings 18:41-46.
   7. We will not read those verses, but you can turn there later and see the answer to Elijah’s prayer.
4.  Applications:
   1. How are we doing with our prayer life?
   2. What can we learn from Elijah?
   3. Do we realize that God controls the weather?
   4. This may not mean you ask the Lord for a drought, but do we pray for the Lord’s help regarding the weather?
   5. Historically, people worked in agriculture and prayed for help with the weather.
   6. Do we recognize the sovereignty of God?
   7. Do we understand that God is faithful?
   8. The prayers regarding the weather were consistent with God’s prior words in Deut. 11:13-17.
   9. What do we need to pray about this week?
   10. Write it down.
   11. Let’s pray now.
   12. Silent prayer, and then the pastor closes.

³³² Quoted in Horton, Calvin on the Christian Life, 159.

^[1] Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (New York: Dutton, 2014), 223–224.

^[2] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 632.

[3] Greear; Four Ways to Pray that Move Heaven. August 19, 2024; Accessed: 02.15.2026

https://jdgreear.com/four-ways-to-pray-that-move-heaven/

^[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 1 Ki 17:1.

Repentant Prayer (Psalm 51)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 15, 2026

The comedian Jim Gaffigan has a bit in which he reflects on how people talk about true crime shows. He shares how the neighbors would say, “He never acted like a murderer.” He shares, “If you watch Dateline, it appears most marriages end in murder.”[1]  

Why do we do bad things? We have a sin problem. As a Christian, when sin is exposed, how do we respond?

My theme today is: When we pray, humbly repent of sin(s).

Let’s turn to Psalm 51 and read it.

Psalm 51:1–12 (ESV)

Psalm 51:title (ESV)

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

¹    Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

     according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

²    Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

³    For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

⁴    Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

     so that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

⁵    Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶    Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷    Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸    Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

⁹    Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰   Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹   Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²   Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

1. I want to give you some background on Psalm 51.
   1. Psalm 51 is about David, the famous King of Israel.
   2. David had conquered many enemies of Israel.
   3. David was God’s anointed King of Israel (1 Samuel 6:13).
   4. But then, in 2 Samuel 11-13, we see King David commit this awful sin, try to cover it up, and be confronted by the prophet Nathan. David had some free time because the others went out to battle, but this time, King David, the famous King of Israel, stayed home. King David is about to, as Johnny Cash would say, fall into a “Burning Ring of Fire.” During the night, David was walking on the roof of the king’s house, and he saw this beautiful woman named Bathsheba taking a bath. David had a servant go and get her, and David slept with her. Later, she ended up pregnant.
   5. So, David must cover up this sin. The pregnancy is going to make it known by everyone that she is pregnant, but not by her husband. Her husband, Uriah, the Hittite, was away at battle. So, David sent for him. David had him come home and tried to get him to sleep with his wife, Bathsheba. But Uriah wouldn’t. Uriah wanted to be back at the battle.
   6. So then, David sent Uriah back to battle with the message that he would be placed on the front lines, and the rest of the troops would withdraw from him (2 Sam 11:14).
   7. So, Uriah died in battle.
   8. In this Psalm, David has been confronted with the sins of adultery and murder, and this is his prayer of confession.
   9. Before we move on, I want to quote 1 John 1:9: if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
   10. I like what Tim Keller shares:
   11. The Bible, unlike all the other ancient texts … Go read them. Read the other stories and accounts of the Greeks and the Romans and the Norse and the Germans and all of their great heroes, their men and women they lifted up as their leaders and heroes. You’ll never see them treated the way the Bible treats the heroes. Never!
   12. It is incredible, frankly, the detail with which the Bible rubs David’s face in what he did….
   13. Second Samuel 11, tells you with unbelievable detail the premeditation, the hard-heartedness, the incredible things David said and did. The Bible does this. It does it to Peter. It does it to Moses. It does it to Abraham. It does it to everybody.
   14. It takes all of these great men and women and shows you their evil. It shows you what? Do you know why? The main message of the Bible is you and I are sinners. The Bible is not here to say, “Oh look how much worse David is than you and me.” No! The Bible here is to say even a great man, a sublime poet, an athlete, a warrior, a king … I mean, David had it all. Even as great a man as David is capable of this. You don’t think you are? See, the whole purpose of the Bible is to say, “You’re a sinner.”
   15. I’ll put it another way. The Bible says there is a prerequisite, an absolute indispensible prerequisite, for you to meet God. You must repent.^[2]
   16. Further:
   17. You won’t understand psychology. You won’t understand economics. You won’t understand sociology. You won’t understand international relations. You won’t understand social relationships. It’s the problem. The Bible says it’s the key issue, without which you can’t understand anything else. That’s what’s wrong!
   18. You can laugh. You can say, “Oh, the biblical doctrine of sin. Ha! It’s old-fashioned.” So is the law of gravity. “Well, it’s unflattering.” Look. You can make fun of the biblical doctrine of sin. The Bible says until you believe it, you won’t be able to understand hardly anything going on around you. You can make fun of it, but come on! Come up with a better explanation for what’s wrong with the world. Go ahead. Just try.^[3]
2. Let’s look at David’s prayer.
   1. Notice that David asks for God’s grace (verse 1).
   2. Psalm 51:1 (ESV) Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
   3. He says that He wants God’s grace according to His loving kindness and His compassion (verse 1). David acknowledges who God is. David knows that we have a loving God.
   4. David wants God to blot out his transgression, wash him from his iniquity (verses 1 and 9), cleanse him from his sin (verses 2 and 10).
   5. This is an instance in the Bible where there are 3 words for sin. They all have separate meanings but are very similar. Iniquity is a wicked act or thing. Transgression is crossing a law, and sin is missing the mark. David, the famous king of Israel, acknowledges in a heavy way that he messed up. In verse 4, he says that he knows his transgression, crossing of the law. In verse 4, he says he sinned against God and that God is a righteous and just judge.
   6. David wants this sin to be blotted out. The idea of blotting something out is like erasing a contract. David wants his sin to be erased.
   7. In a Babylonian text, there is a comment that the king may order that the tablet of “my sins be broken.” In Hammurabi’s code, an illegal contract for the purchase of a soldier’s home may be canceled by breaking the cuneiform tablet. But this was not usually thought of with a god. This is what David wanted.
   8. David wants to be washed in verse 2, and in verse 7, he talks about being washed. In verse 7, he talks about being purified with hyssop, a plant used to purify uncleanness.
   9. David wants to be cleansed.
   10. Think of the effects of confession and repentance:
   11. By the time Howard Schultz had resigned from Starbucks in 2000, the coffee chain was experiencing steady growth. Eight years later, when Starbucks was reeling from a bad economy and stiff competition, Schultz resumed his role as Starbucks’ chief executive. He faced a challenging mission: to lead a turnaround. In an interview about his return, Schultz commented that before they could move forward, they had to deal with the past by honestly admitting their mistakes. Here’s an excerpt from that interview:
   12. When I returned in January 2008, things were actually worse than I’d thought. The decisions we made were very difficult, but first there had to be a time when we stood up in front of the entire company as leaders and made almost a confession—that the leadership had failed the 180,000 Starbucks people and their families. And even though I wasn’t the CEO…I should have known better. I am responsible. We had to admit to ourselves and to the people of this company that we owned the mistakes that were made. Once we did, it was a powerful turning point. It’s like when you have a secret and get it out: The burden is off your shoulders.[4]
   13. But then, in verse 8, David prays for joy again.
   14. David has probably lost the joy because, for a year, he has felt overwhelming guilt over the sin he committed.
   15. David asks for a clean heart and a right Spirit (10).
   16. David asks that he not be cast from God’s presence and that he not lose the Holy Spirit.
   17. In 1 Samuel 18 and 19, we can see that the Spirit of the Lord had left King David’s predecessor, Saul, because of sin.
   18. Then in verse 12, David asks for the joy of God’s salvation and a willing Spirit. The New Living Translation says, “and make me willing to obey Him.
   19. I find this interesting. After confessing, David asks for help to keep obeying God.
   20. Research psychologists have found there are at least three situations when we are not ourselves. First, the average person puts on airs when he visits the lobby of a fancy hotel. Next, the typical Jane Doe will try to hide her emotions and bamboozle the salesman when she enters the new-car showroom. And finally, as we take our seat in church or synagogue, we try to fake out the Almighty that we’ve really been good all week.[5]
   21. God forgave David. Jesus came from David’s lineage, and Jesus died so that we all can have forgiveness and a relationship with God (2 Cor 5:21: God made Him who knew no sin….). Remember what 1 John 1:9 says: God will forgive us and cleanse us from our sins. If we confess. God will forgive us even if people will not.
   22. Timothy Keller shares:
   23. When David said, “Cast me not away from thy presence,” God didn’t. Do you know why? Because on the cross Jesus was cast away from God’s presence. When Jesus Christ said, “My God, my God,” what was he saying? “My God, my God, why have you cast me away from thy presence?” Everything David says here “Don’t do to me,” which God didn’t do to him, God didn’t do to him because God did it to his own Son in David’s place, in my place, in your place.^[6]
   24. Charles Spurgeon says, in the greatest act of love in the history of the world Jesus Christ stayed on the cross. He saw what we were like and he stayed. Remember he said to Peter, “I could call 10,000 angels like that, and it would be all over,” but he didn’t do it.^[7]

So, pray with repentance. Tim Keller helps us out:

Some years ago, I remember counseling a couple of people in my church in Virginia. They were married and they were having marital problems, largely because the man was prone to anger and abusive language. Not physical abuse but very abusive language. His wife dragged him into counsel with a pastor, and I basically had to lean on him. He said, “Well, I guess you’re right,” but it was very clear he felt like she was being too sensitive. “I’m really no different than other guys.”

He tried to put a lid on it, but he never did. He always said, “I’m sorry,” but he never changed. Finally, one night he calls me up. She left. She was gone. He comes to see me in tears, saying, “I’m really sorry. I really, really see that I have done wrong. I have to stop. I have such a bad mouth on me. I have to stop it. I know I hurt her. I will change the way in which I speak. You have to call her and tell her.”

All I did was I called her and told her, “Why don’t you come, and the three of us will meet?” I didn’t say, “Oh yeah, I’m sure he’s changed.” I said, “Let’s come and let’s hear him.” She listened to him. He says, “I really am sorry. I’m really changed. I really repent.” So she says, “Okay, I’ll come back.” She came back, and for about a month he was fine, and then he went right back to it, and she left for good.

Why? He was sorry for the consequences of the sin. He wasn’t sorry for the sin. Do you know the difference between self-pity and repentance? This means everything here. In self-pity you’re loving yourself. In self-pity you’re saying, “This sin got me into trouble. That’s why I’m so upset.” Actually, you’re sorry for the consequence of the sin, but you don’t hate or are sorry for the sin, because that takes love.^[8]

We must pray that the Lord opens our eyes, so we repent, not because we have been caught, but because we love God and we don’t want to break His heart, nor do we want to hurt other people.

Let’s pray about that.

Luke 9:23

Do you know Jesus?

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=860513759282727

^[2] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[3] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[4] Adi Ignatius, “We Had to Own the Mistakes,” Harvard Business Review (July-August 2010), p. 109

[5] Dr. Perry Buffington, licensed psychologist, author, columnist; “Playing Charades,” Universal Press Syndicate (9-26-99)

^[6] Timothy J. Keller, “Reality: Forgive Us Our Debts,” in The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2014–2015 (New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2014), Ps 51.

^[7] Timothy J. Keller, “Reality: Forgive Us Our Debts,” in The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2014–2015 (New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2014), Ps 51.

^[8] Timothy J. Keller, “Reality: Forgive Us Our Debts,” in The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 2014–2015 (New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2014), Ps 51.

Daniel’s Prayer Life (Daniel 9:4-19)                     

Daniel humbly comes to the Lord on behalf of Israel.

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 8, 2026

Daniel’s Prayer Life (Daniel 9:4-19)                     

Daniel humbly comes to the Lord on behalf of Israel.

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 8, 2026

A boy Scout was on a plane with a pilot, a minister, and a computer whiz. There was trouble on the plane. The plane was beginning to dive. They realized that they had to put on parachutes and jump. The only problem was there were only three parachutes and there were four people. The pilot came and said, “Well, look, I’ve got a wife and four kids, I need a parachute.” So, he took the parachute and he jumped.

The computer whiz said, “Well, I’ve got all of this knowledge that the world desperately needs for the twenty-first century, and I can’t have it die with me, so I need a parachute.” So, the computer whiz took a parachute and he jumped.

The minister looked at the little boy and said, “Well, look, I’ve lived a long, full life and you’re just a young man. You take the last parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane.”

The little boy looked at the minister and said, “Mr. Minister, don’t worry about it. The brilliant computer whiz just took my knapsack and jumped out of the plane.”

A lot of us are too smart for our britches. We think more of ourselves than we ought to. We think we’re a life whiz and every time we jump out to do right, we fall flat on our face. God has what we need in order to jump and land on our feet. All we have to do is humble ourselves and submit to Him.^479,[1]

We are in a year-long focus on prayer. Today, we look at Daniel’s prayer life. Notice Daniel’s humble prayer.

My theme today:

Daniel humbly comes to the Lord on behalf of Israel.

1. Context
   1. This is towards the latter half of Daniel.
   2. He writes about dramatic end-times visions in chapters 7 and 8.
   3. Now, Daniel is seeking the Lord in a prayer of repentance.
   4. This prayer occurred shortly after the Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the Medes and the Persians in 539 c., thus fulfilling the prophecy of the handwriting on the wall (cf. ch. 5).^[2]
   5. Daniel’s prayer was prompted by reading Jeremiah, part of the OT canon that had been collected up to that point, where he found a reference to the desolations of Jerusalem lasting for seventy years.^[3]
2. Notice, Daniel seeks the Lord in humility (Daniel 9:3).
   1. Daniel 9:3 (ESV)
   2. ³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
   3. Daniel turns his face to the Lord. This means his demeanor is one of seeking the Lord.
   4. Daniel is seeking the Lord by prayer, that is how he seeks the Lord.
   5. He is seeking the Lord by pleading for mercy. Mercy would be asking God to hold back what we deserve.
   6. Daniel does this with sackcloth and ashes.
3. Daniel reviews Israel’s sin (Daniel 9:4-11).
   1. Daniel 9:4–11 (ESV)
   2. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. ⁸ To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him ¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
   3. Let’s walk through this prayer:
   4. Daniel writes that he prayed to the Lord, his God…
   5. It was a day in which nations would worship different deities. Daniel is praying to his God.
   6. Daniel writes that he made confession.
   7. As we look at this prayer, I notice that he is repenting for national sins.
   8. We will come back to that.
   9. Then, we see this worshipful, confessional prayer.
   10. He begins, “O Lord, the great and awesome God…”
   11. This is one of the many models for prayer. We ought to begin our prayers by acknowledging God’s awesomeness.
   12. Daniel acknowledges the Lord’s attributes.
   13. The Lord keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and obey Him.
   14. Daniel 9:5 begins confession: “We have sinned…”
   15. Daniel is repenting for national sins. He is repenting of sins committed before he was born.
   16. Daniel says they have done wrong. They have acted wickedly. They have rebelled. They have turned aside from the Lord’s commandments and rules. If we want a list, we can go to 2 Kings 17:7-18. They walked in the customs of the nations the Lord had driven out (2 Kings 17:8). They built for themselves “high places.” These would be pagan ceremonial sacrificial places (2 Kings 17:9-12). They made idols. They abandoned the Lord’s commandments (2 Kings 17:16). They burned their sons and daughters as offerings (2 Kings 17:17). That is child sacrifice.
   17. In Daniel 9:6, Daniel acknowledges that they did not listen to the prophets.
   18. We see Daniel worship the Lord in Daniel 9:7- worship the Lord. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame. Notice the humility.
   19. Amid our holy and awesome Lord, we will be humbled.
   20. In the rest of Daniel 9:7, he is sharing that all of those of Judah who have been spread out all over the lands are ashamed.
   21. In Daniel 9:8, he builds on this. In verse 7, he prayed that the people would deserve shame, but now he is bringing in the kings, princes, and fathers. This is because they have sinned against the Lord.
   22. Daniel does not gloss over anything.
   23. In Daniel 9:9-10, he talks about the Lord. They need mercy and forgiveness from the Lord. They have not obeyed the Lord. They have not walked in His ways. The Lord sent His prophets to proclaim His ways, but they have not followed them.
   24. In Deut. 28:15-68 Moses proclaimed an “if-then” covenant. If you obey, there will be blessings, but if not, there will be curses. They did not obey.
   25. Daniel makes no excuses. He repents, acknowledging that they deserve this.
   26. He is humble in a worshipful, repentant prayer.
4. Daniel reviews Israel’s suffering (Daniel 9:12-14).
   1. Daniel 9:12–14 (ESV)
   2. ¹² He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. ¹³ As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
   3. In Daniel 9:12, he is praying that the Lord has kept His Word.
   4. Yet they did not repent. They have not turned from their iniquities, which are gross sins.
   5. They did not gain insight from the Lord’s truth.
   6. In Daniel 9:14, we see the inference. “Therefore,” the Lord kept ready the calamity… That makes it sound like the Lord knew the time was coming but was restraining it. The Lord knew this was coming, but gave them more time to repent. That would be the truth. The Lord knows all things.
   7. Daniel again appeals to the Lord’s righteousness. He is righteous in all He does.
   8. Daniel brings in more communal repentance. “We” have not obeyed His voice.
5. Daniel makes a request (Daniel 9:15-19).
   1. Daniel 9:15–19 (ESV)
   2. ¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
   3. ¹⁶ “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. ¹⁸ O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
   4. In Daniel 9:15, he continues to appeal to Israel’s history with the Lord. He identifies the Lord as “our” Lord.
   5. You brought “Your” people out of Egypt.
   6. You are the One Who brought them out of Egypt. He brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He is appealing to the Lord’s strength.
   7. Interesting, Daniel says that the Lord made a name for Himself. What is that about? He is saying that when He delivered the Israelites from Egypt, everyone heard about it. When the Lord led them into the promised land, their reputation preceded them.
   8. Again, Daniel says that they have sinned and acted wickedly.
   9. Now, in Daniel 9:16, he makes a request. O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.
   10. Daniel is appealing to the Lord as the righteous One. The Lord will do what is right.
   11. Daniel prayed for restoration in 3 aspects. In effect he asked God to bring back “Your city” (vv. 16, 18), “Your desolate sanctuary (v. 17), and “Your people” (v. 19). God’s answer embraced all three (v. 24).^[4]
   12. He is asking that the Lord hear… The Lord hears everything, but this is about the Lord hearing in a positive, affirmative way.
   13. Daniel says that he is not appealing based on their righteousness; no, he is appealing based on God’s great mercy.
   14. He is asking the Lord to hold back the judgment that they deserve.
   15. Daniel appeals based on Who the Lord is. Daniel appeals based on the Lord’s character and great Name.
   16. It is interesting that Daniel did not tell God what to do. Instead he asked God to hear, to see, and to act.^[5]
   17. If we read on, Daniel 9:20 states that he continued to confess and repent, and then Gabriel responded.
   18. They do re-enter the land in the years following this prayer. We won’t read those verses, but Gabriel responds. The response is about final judgment and restoration.
6.  Applications:
   3. Notice Daniel’s demeanor from Daniel 9:3. How do we show the Lord that we are humbly seeking Him?
   4. Do we humbly seek the Lord?
   5. We may not put on sackcloth and ashes, but are we humble when we seek Him?
   6. This is not about being showy to other people. Sometimes, an outward demeanor tells our inner selves that this is important, and we are talking with the Lord of all creation.
   7. Daniel worships as he prays. He calls God “great and awesome,” do we worship in prayer?
   8. Do we go before the Lord in a humble and worshipful way?
   9. However, there is another aspect to this.
   10. Daniel goes before the Lord in a priestly way on behalf of the people.
   11. Around 669 years later, there will be another Man Who will intercede for the people. This will be Jesus.
   12. Daniel interceded for the people as a prophet. Jesus will intercede for the people as the great High Priest (Heb. 4:14).

Alfred Tennyson says, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of” (Fyall, Daniel: A Tale of Two Cities, 131). The Bible teaches us how true that is, especially when a man of God intercedes for the people of God. Moses, in Exodus 32 (cf. Deut 9:13–14), pleads with God not to destroy the people for their idolatry. Instead, he asks God to take his life in their place. God did not wipe them out. Here Daniel identifies himself with his people in their sin, making their sin his sin. Both anticipate the greater Moses (Deut 18:15–20) and the greater Daniel who will identify himself with those he will save and substitute himself in death, taking their place and bearing the punishment of their sin. And we should note the important role prayer played in the past but also in the present. In the past, in the garden of Gethsemane, our Lord was troubled and wept in prayer as he prepared to take on the sins of the world and to bear in his own body the judgment and wrath of God. But now, as Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 tell us, we have an intercessor in heaven, a great high priest, who pleads our cause before “the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands” (Dan 9:4).

The prayer of Moses draws my admiration. The prayer of Daniel inspires my emulation. The prayers of Jesus move me to adoration. His prayers led him to experience “public shame” (v. 7) in my place. His prayers my God heard. His prayers led my God to forgive. Hearing the prayers of his own dear Son, my God paid attention and he acted, raising Jesus from the dead after which Christ ascended on high and is “able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb 7:25). I love praying men. I worship my praying God!^[6]

A man one day was on his way to catch a train. He had to get to work because he had an important meeting. He had to catch the 8:05 train. Now, it had rained the night before and the man was rushing out the door. As he opened the back door, there was his little son playing in the mud. He was busy rubbing mud on his face, mud on his arms, and just having a good old time playing in the mud. The father, intent on catching the 8:05, jumped over his son, said good-bye, and rushed out of the house to catch the 8:05, but he slipped and fell in the mud next to his son. So now the father is in the mud and the son is in the mud. But, the father had to catch the 8:05. He had a place to go. Because of where he needed to go, he did not stay in the mud and play with his son. His son was enjoying playing in the mud and wasn’t trying to go anywhere. But the father had a train to catch. He jumped up out of the mud. Best as he could, he cleaned himself off and took off running because he had a train to catch. He had to catch the 8:05 and he knew that on the 8:05 there was going to be a restroom where he could clean up the dirt that he had accumulated during the time he was in the mud.

There are two kinds of people today. There are some who are playing in the mud and are not trying to go anywhere. There are other people who are in the mud but don’t want to be.

Maybe you’ve slipped in the mud or maybe you’ve walked right into the mud, but now it has dawned on you that you’ve got a train to catch—a place to go. You’ve got a God to know, a life to live, experiences to have, and you want all that God has for you. Maybe you’ve decided to leave the mud, to repent, to turn, and to catch the train because on this train, God has got a restroom that will clean you up. He’s got the blood of Jesus Christ that will transform you and take you to the destination of God’s purpose for your life.

Sin always has consequences. But the good news is that grace is greater than sin.^756,[7]

Prayer

^[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 160.

^[2] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1605.

^[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1605.

^[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Da 9:16.

^[5] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Da 9:18.

^[6] Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Daniel (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), 115–116.

^[7] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 247.

Abraham Intercedes for Lot (Gen. 18:16-33)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 1, 2026

Prayer is surrender—surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from a boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.

—E. Stanley Jones, A Song of Ascents^[1]

We are in a series on prayer.

Today, we look at Abraham interceding for Sodom and surrendering to the Lord.

My theme today is:

Abraham speaks to the Lord on behalf of Sodom.

The application:

Go to the Lord on behalf of those suffering.

1. 1. Genesis 18:22 (ESV) ²² So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.
   2. Let’s put this passage in context.
   3. We learn in Gen. 18:1 that the Lord appeared to Abraham. Three men appear to Abraham, but one is clearly the Lord. Most likely these three men are the Lord and two angels.
   4. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3), so I think this is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament.
   5. Abraham is very hospitable, and then they tell Abraham that he will have a son in the next year.
   6. Then, in Gen. 18:16-21, the Lord speaks to the other two men, likely angels, about revealing to Abraham what He will do in destroying Sodom.
   7. Abraham’s nephew and his family were in Sodom.
   8. Verse 22: the other men, angels head towards Sodom. Abraham stays with the Lord. This is really cool! Here he is with the Lord in human form.
   9. CSB: The Lord would investigate Sodom and Gomorrah for two reasons: the outcry coming from their victims was immense, and the cities’ sin was extremely serious. According to Ezk 16:49–50, the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah included self-centered pride, neglect of the poor and needy, and doing unnamed detestable things. According to Gn 19:5–9, one of the “detestable acts” was attempted homosexual gang rape. Through his appointed representatives the Lord would experience what justified the cry that had come up to Him.^[2]
   10. Verses 23-24: ²³ Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Abraham asks of the Lord… will You really do this?
   11. Verse 24: Suppose 50 righteous people.
   12. Verses 25-26: ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶ And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
   13. I love the humility in which Abraham asks this: far be it from You to do such a thing…
   14. Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right? That is an important statement.
   15. Yes, HE DOES.
   16. There is no one righteous (Romans 3:23).
   17. God comes down to show that He is just!
   18. Deuteronomy 32:4 (ESV): ⁴“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
   19. Verses 26-28: ²⁷ Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
   20. The Lord responds, remember He is right there.
   21. If 45 righteous people, God will spare the whole place.
   22. Notice the continual humility in Abraham.
   23. Notice Abraham’s humility: I am but dust and ashes. Abraham’s negotiation, far from being crassly or selfishly manipulative, humbly and compassionately expressed his concern for people (cf. 13:8, 9) and particularly interceded for the place where his nephew Lot and his family lived. Neither did he intend to anger the Lord by his repeated requests (vv. 28, 30, 32).^[6]
   24. Verses 29-33: ²⁹ Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹ He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³² Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³ And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
   25. That the number of righteous people necessary to forestall judgment had been reduced from 50 to 10 may have reflected Abraham’s awareness both of the intense wickedness of the cities as well as Lot’s ineffective witness there. Abraham probably had the whole of Lot’s family in mind.^[11]
   26. We see Abraham’s heart and God’s heart.
   27. The Lord departed from him.
2.  Applications:
   1. Do we intercede for our family in crisis?
   2. Abraham’s nephew and his family were in Sodom. They would be destroyed.
   3. In the next chapter, the Lord rescues Lot, Abraham’s nephew.
   4. We all have family and loved ones who are dying without Jesus. Do we intercede for them?
   5. Do we go to the Lord asking for their salvation?
   6. Notice Abraham’s humility, are we humble before the Lord?
   7. Do we pray? Archbishop William Temple says your religion is what you do with your solitude.^[12]

Do you know Him?

Go to Him in prayer.

^[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 453.

^[2] Robert D. Bergen, “Genesis,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 37.

^[3] Ibid, Ge 18:23–26.

^[4] Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 148.

OT Old Testament

1. compare
2. verse
3. compare
4. verse
5. verses

^[5] Robert D. Bergen, “Genesis,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 37.

^[6] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ge 18:27.

^[7] Ibid, Ge 18:29.

^[8] Ibid, Ge 18:30.

^[9] Ibid, Ge 18:31.

^[10] Ibid, Ge 18:32–33.

^[11] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ge 18:32.

^[12] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[13] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[14] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[15] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Hannah’s Prayer and the Birth of Samuel (1 Sam. 2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 22, 2026

Prayer, what does it matter? Seeking the Lord, who cares, dependence upon the Lord, not that important, is it? Well, obviously, I think all these things in our lives are very important. Prayers, seeking the Lord, and dependence on God are important as they affect our whole lives. But when you are a parent, these affect more than you; they affect your children, even if your children are not born yet. Unfortunately, in my ministry, I have worked with children who haven’t had godly parents. Unfortunately, I have worked with children who have had absent parents. It is always refreshing to see a good family. It is refreshing for me to see a family that puts God first. I know there are many families in this church that seek the Lord, depend upon God, and have a vibrant prayer life.

I am not the only one who thinks that prayer and seeking the Lord are very important. In the Old Testament, a woman sought the Lord and was rewarded for it. I know as soon as I mentioned the Old Testament, you thought of Hannah in 1 Samuel. But for those of you who haven’t thought of Hannah, she is the one I am thinking of. Hannah was a very godly woman. She gave birth to one of the greatest Old Testament prophets. The prophet Samuel ordained King Saul and King David, Israel’s first two kings. Because of Hannah, we have the Old Testament narratives of First and Second Samuel. Let me explain this as we walk through chapter 1. But let me add a note, a very important note: As I talk about 1 Samuel 1, I will talk about Hannah’s devotion to the Lord and her husband’s support. My challenge is that we are also devoted to the Lord. But just because we are devoted to the Lord doesn’t mean your kids will also grow up to be godly. If you have an adult or teenage child that you are struggling with, it is easy to blame yourself. But I know of parents who have been and are very godly, and yet their children rebel.  

My theme and application today are:

Strive to pray like Hannah

Please follow along as we read 1Samuel 1

1. What is going on in 1 Samuel 1?
   1. In the first couple of verses, we have an introduction to the passage. We have a little bit about their lifestyle. Hannah was married to Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives.
   2. It is most likely from context and wording that Elkanah was married to Hannah first. But when Hannah could not have children, he took a second wife named Peninnah. Hannah means “grace,” and Peninnah means  “ruby.”
   3. It was important back then for a man and a woman to be able to have children. Back then, children were expected to take care of their parents as they grew older. Children also helped with the family business.
   4. The text shows that Hannah was barren. This was a big deal. It was tragic.
   5. As we talk about Hannah’s commitment to the Lord, we must also talk about Elkanah’s commitment to the Lord. Verse 3 shows that Elkanah would take his family to Shiloh to worship and make sacrifices. He gave sacrifices to his two wives and to his children.
   6. Now, this was a big commitment. Shiloh was about 15 miles from Jerusalem and about a two-day journey. Now, many of you are thinking, “Why Shiloh? What about Jerusalem?” I am glad you asked. At this point, Jerusalem had not yet been conquered by King David. So, at this point, the Ark of the Covenant, Israel’s temple, and worship center were in Shiloh.
   7. Verse 5 shows that Elkanah loved Hannah more. But also, that “the Lord had closed her womb.”
   8. Major principle: The Lord is in control. I was at a doctor’s office, and there was a sign—“Physicians treat, God heals.”
   9. Verses 6-8 show the pain that Hannah experienced from being barren. Peninnah is described as a rival. She would provoke Hannah, as Hannah had no children. It is possible that she provoked Hannah because Elkanah loved Hannah more.
   10. The Scriptures show God controls the womb, and now Hannah believes that. She believes it so much that she spends extra time in prayer about her son.
2. Hannah’s prayer-
   1. 1 Samuel 1:9–11 (ESV)
   2. ⁹ After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. ¹¹ And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
   3. She prays for a son. She prays so intensely that Eli, the priest, thinks she is drunk. She is praying with her mouth, but her lips are moving without sounds coming out.
   4. Verse 10: She was “deeply” distressed and prayed to the Lord.
   5. She wept “bitterly.”
   6. She made a vow to the Lord.
   7. She would dedicate her son to the Lord.
   8. 1 Samuel 1:12–18 (ESV)
   9. ¹² As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. ¹⁴ And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” ¹⁸ And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
   10. Now, Hannah prays for a son but also makes a vow. If the Lord gives her a son, she will dedicate him to the Lord for his whole life, and no razor will touch his head.
   11. Now, that is the Nazirite vow, which is usually a temporary vow, but she promises that Samuel will have that vow for his whole life.
   12. According to Numbers 6, people might make a special vow to separate themselves to the Lord for a time. This involved letting no razor … touch one’s head, eating nothing from the grapevine, and not going near a dead body. Hannah mentions only the razor in the text, but that part of the vow probably stood for the whole of the regulations. According to Lev. 27:1–8, a person as young as a month old could be vowed to the Lord, apparently to work in the temple. The Leviticus passage deals with redeeming someone who has been dedicated, but Hannah does not intend to redeem her son.^[1]
   13. Have you ever wanted something so bad? Well, Hannah did in this case, so she went to the One who could ultimately provide it.
3. The Lord rewarded Hannah’s vow.
   1. Hannah goes home, and she becomes pregnant (1 Samuel 1:19-20). God provided a baby, and they named him Samuel. So, Hannah follows through, and after the child was weaned, she brings him to the temple.
   2. So, Samuel was probably two to three years old when he was dedicated to the temple.
   3. I read this and think, “That is amazing, she dedicates her son to serve in temple service his whole life.” This means that, from the age of two, the priest would have raised him.
4.  Applications:
   1. How are we doing with prayer?
   2. Hannah goes to the Lord with her need.
   3. Do you know what this means? This means she knew the Lord controls the womb.
   4. She believed in the Lord’s sovereignty.
   5. She submitted to God’s sovereignty.
   6. Tim Keller shares:
   7. Hannah had a son named Samuel, and she put him into the ministry, and he became one of the great deliverers, a penultimate messiah, one of the deliverers who foreshadowed the great Messiah to come. He rose up at a time of great crisis, and he led his people to victory over their enemies and saved them.
   8. If Hannah had not suffered … See if God had just given her a child when she wanted a child, she would have crushed him under the weight of her expectations. She would have dangled him before Peninnah and said, “Ha, ha, ha. See I am okay. I’m all right. I’m a real woman. I had a son.” He never would have become the savior, would he? Never. He would have needed somebody to save him.
   9. But because of her suffering and because of her sacrifice of him by sending him away … Through her suffering and her sacrifice the people were saved, because she accepted not knowing how God was going to use her suffering but simply said, “I’m at peace. I’ve made my vow. I’ve changed my heart. Now do what you want. Give me a son. Now it’s safe for me to have him. I won’t make an idol out of him.”
   10. It was safe, finally. It was finally safe for her to have this thing. Because she suffered and sacrificed and put God in the center, he became the savior.^[2]
   11. She humbly prayed to the Lord.
   12. Do we believe in the sovereignty of God?
   13. Do we submit to the sovereignty of God?
   14. Do we pray in a way in which we trust the Lord with the results?
5. How does this point to Jesus?
   2. Hannah prays and praises in 1 Samuel 2.
   3. 1 Samuel 2:8 (ESV) He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.
   4. Tim Keller:
   5. Most interesting (verse 8), God has taken the poor off the ash heap. The ash heaps were the garbage dumps outside the city, they were so foul, and they were burned. They just burned their garbage, and any poor person who actually rooted around in the garbage dump, in the ash heap, was the poorest of the poor. Yet God takes the poorest of the poor and sets them up with princes, and takes the princes and sends them down to the ash heap. “Well,” you say, “that’s very interesting. So what?” So everything.
   6. When Jesus Christ was led outside of the gates of Jerusalem to be executed over in the garbage area, ignominiously being crucified, which is the most disgraceful of all executions … As Jesus Christ was going out in disgrace and in weakness, everybody said, “That can’t be the Messiah.” Why? Because if you look at the forefathers of the Messiah, the penultimate forerunners of the Messiah, they were Samuel and Samson and David and Gideon, and they all brought salvation by being strong and getting glory.
   7. So they looked at Jesus and said, “That can’t be the Messiah. The Messiah wouldn’t be weak. The Messiah wouldn’t be disgraced. That couldn’t be the Messiah.” Do you know what their problem was? They were looking at the forefathers of the Messiah but not the foremothers. They were looking at the men who were the forerunners of Jesus but not the women. Over and over again, God gave a foretaste of the real gospel and the work of Jesus Christ in the fact he continually brought his salvation of the world through the barren, through the rejected, through the unwanted women.
   8. It’s old barren Sarah, not beautiful fertile Hagar through whom God brings the royal messianic saving seed, Isaac. It’s through Leah, the girl nobody wanted, the wife Jacob didn’t want, not Rachel the beautiful and the wanted that God brings the royal messianic saving seed of Judah. Samson is born to a barren woman who shouldn’t be able to have children. Samuel is born to a suffering disgraced woman, but through the suffering and disgrace of Hannah, salvation comes.
   9. If you looked at the foremothers, you would have known Isaiah was talking about the Messiah when he said the one who comes to save us will suffer disgrace and will be crushed for our iniquities. Jesus experienced the reversal Hannah was talking about. Why can we be lifted up and seated in the heavenly places in Christ? Why can we be seated on thrones? Because Jesus Christ went deeper than the ash heap. He went literally into the ash heap.
   10. He not only was crucified in the ash heap, but he experienced the disgrace and the punishment and the divine justice we deserve. Because our sins and our disgrace were put on him, through his weakness and through his suffering we’re saved. You could see it in Hannah if you were looking at Hannah not Samuel. You could see it in Samson’s mother. You could see it in Leah. You could see it in all of those women. The women in the Old Testament show Jesus Christ is not just a coming king, but a suffering servant.
   11. Until you understand the true spirituality of women like Hannah, you won’t know what Hannah knew. Hannah did not know exactly how God was going to use her suffering to bring about salvation. I have no idea whether she even lived long enough to understand that. Maybe at the very end of her life, when she began to see what was going on with Samuel, she said, “Oh, that’s why I had to suffer. So that’s why I had to sacrifice.” But maybe she didn’t know. She didn’t care. She trusted him.
   12. Well, that’s pretty good of Hannah, but you and I have something she didn’t have. We have the cross. On the cross I see that God brings life out of death, and through suffering, his own suffering, he brings about all kinds of life in the world. Therefore, O friends, you can trust him right now. If you are faithful to him and don’t give up on God but put God in the center even during your suffering, like Hannah, God will turn it all to gold for you and for others.^[3]

Closing:

There is great value in raising godly children. This value begins when moms and dads seek the Lord at home.

A mother in New England was helping pack a box to be sent to India. Her son, aged four, insisted on putting in an offering all his own, a little leaflet entitled “Come to Jesus.” His name was written on it with the little prayer, “May the one who gets this soon learn to love Jesus.” When the child’s leaflet reached that far-off land, it was finally given to a Hindu priest who was teaching the missionaries the language. He took it without looking at it, but on his way back to his mountain home, he thought of the leaflet, took it out, and read the writing on the outside.

The child’s prayer so touched him that he was then eager to read further. He soon gave up his idols and became a devoted missionary to his own people. Fifteen years after that, American missionaries visited his mountain village, and there found the converted Hindu priest with a congregation of fifteen hundred people who had learned to love Jesus as their Saviour, through the influence and teaching of that leaflet.

^[1] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 492.

^[2] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

^[3] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Gain Strength in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:1-7)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 15, 2026

We have been focusing on prayer.

General Patton prayed.

Patton prays:

Sir, this is Patton speaking. The last fourteen days have been straight from hell. Rain, snow, more rain, more snow – and I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on in Your headquarters.  Whose side are You on, anyway?      

For three years my chaplains have been explaining that this is a religious war.  Patton goes on and on asking the Lord’s helping hand.

Then he responded days later:

His follow-up prayer a few days later:

Sir, this is Patton again, and I beg to report complete progress. Sir, it seems to me that you have been much better informed about the situation than I was, because it was that awful weather which I cursed so much which made it possible for the German army to commit suicide. That, Sir, was a brilliant military move, and I bow humbly to a supreme military genius.[1]

I don’t believe Patton is an example of how we are to pray.

Today my theme is:

Gain Strength in the Lord

1. Context
   1. Let’s begin by talking about the context.
   2. This passage happens towards the end of 1 Samuel.
   3. David has been fleeing from Saul.
   4. David is the anointed king of Israel.
   5. He was anointed by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:12-13.
   6. David kills Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
   7. Beginning in 1 Samuel 18:10, Saul is jealous of David.
   8. So, David is the anointed king, but he is not on the throne yet.
   9. He is fleeing Saul.
   10. So, in 1 Samuel 27, David flees to the Philistines.
   11. The Philistines were the constant enemies of Israel.
   12. David would fake like he was leading a small army to attack the Israelites, but he was actually attacking the Philistines. This was David and his 600 mighty men (1 Samuel 27:2).
   13. Then, the Philistine leaders do not trust him.
   14. In 1 Samuel 30, he and his men return to Ziklag.
2. The Amalekites raid against David’s men and their families (1 Sam. 30:1-2).
   1. 1 Samuel 30:1–2 (ESV)
   2. Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire ² and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.
   3. They, David and his men, arrive at Ziklak.
   4. This is the third day after they left the Philistines.
   5. Serving as a temporary place of residence for David and his 600 men, Ziklag was located in the Negev and given to David by Achish the king of Gath (27:6). David used it as the base from which he would make raids on the neighboring tribes (27:8–11). ^[2]
   6. The Negev was a certain, dry, desert area.
   7. Reaping the consequences of Saul’s failure to utterly destroy the Amalekites (1Sa 15) and David’s raids against them (27:8), David and his men were the victims of a successful raid in which the Amalekites took all of their wives and livestock captive before burning Ziklag, their city.^[3]
   8. Saul was commanded to destroy the Amalekites but did not complete it (see 1 Sam. 15). So, David has been raiding against them (1 Sam. 27:8).
   9. It was about 50 miles (81 km) from Aphek to Ziklag. The Amalekites surely knew that the bulk of the armies of Philistia and Judah (v. 14) had gone to the battle in the north, and they took advantage of that fact.^[4]
   10. One of the curiosities of the Amalekites is that they always seem to be present to cause trouble no matter how many times the Israelites defeat them (see Ex 17:8–16; 1 Sam 15:1–9). In this case the Amalekites respond to David’s raiding of their villages (1 Sam 27:8), taking advantage of David’s presence at Aphek.
   11. [There is an important extra detail of information here]: The raid is immediately followed up by David’s devastating defeat of the Amalekites and the rescue of his family and property. In this way the narrative demonstrates that David was nowhere nearby when Saul was killed. He is acting the role of hero, defeating Israel’s enemies and saving his people from harm, while Saul is being defeated by the Philistines at Gilboa.^[5]
   12. Did you catch that? That source shares that this chapter shows that David was nowhere near Saul when he died.
   13. David did not take the throne by force.
   14. But that is a sermon for another day.
   15. So, the Amalekites destroyed this city and took the women, and all who were in the city, children, seniors, women, everyone.
   16. They did not kill them.
   17. What did they do with them?
   18. They probably took them as slaves. That is what they did back then.
   19. Don’t miss this.
   20. This would be devastating.
   21. Recently, I read an article in The Atlantic that argued that people may have experienced different emotions throughout history. Various factors develop our emotions.[6]
   22. That may be true; however, this would be devastating.
   23. Imagine that you are one of David’s 600 men. Your wife has been taken, your daughter taken.
   24. Your son, or sons, will be slaves. They may be military slaves. Your daughters may be forced to be temple prostitutes to one of their gods. Your child, or children, may become child sacrifices to one of their gods.
3. David’s men find the city burned and their loved ones gone.
   1. 1 Samuel 30:3–5 (ESV)
   2. ³ And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. ⁵ David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
   3. David and his men find the city, they see that their family members are gone.
   4. In my mind, I picture a scene from the movie, The Patriot. In that movie, Mel Gibson plays a militia leader during the Revolutionary War. There is a scene in which the British burn a church with the family, loved ones, and friends of that militia locked inside. Mel Gibson’s militia finds the church burned and the bodies of their loved ones smoldering.
   5. They get angry and immediately leave to seek revenge. The man who plays Mel Gibson’s son, Heath Ledger, leaves first, and the others follow.
   6. They don’t stop. They fight. They do weep, but they fight.
   7. In this case, notice that David’s men don’t fight right away.
   8. They pause.
   9. In 1 Sam. 30:4 it says they wept.
   10. Did they weep a little? No, they wept until they had no strength to weep.
   11. I would fight. If it were me, I would fight and weep later.
   12. There is a lesson here.
   13. It is important to pause.
   14. We are task-driven people, but we should pause.
   15. We should grieve. Ecc. 3:4- a time to weep… a time to mourn…
   16. We mustn’t ignore our emotions.
   17. Verse 5 shares that David’s two wives were also taken and tells who they were.
   18. David is affected as well.
4. David strengthened himself in the Lord (1 Sam. 30:6).
   1. 1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV)
   2. ⁶ And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
   3. This is a “wow” verse.
   4. David is a mighty warrior. They are loyal to him, but they are talking about stoning him.
   5. What does David do?
   6. He strengthens himself in the Lord.
   7. Swindoll shares: For the first time in sixteen months, David looks up, and he says, “Oh, God, help me.” And He does. He always will. He is “a very present help” when needed.^[7]
   8. One source shares: …meaning that David drew strength from knowing that he was doing God’s will and obeying God’s Word.^[8]
5. David inquires of the Lord (1 Sam. 30:7-8).
   1. 1 Samuel 30:7–8 (ESV)
   2. ⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
   3. Now, David goes to the Lord.
   4. It seems like, at first, David gains strength from the Lord.
   5. Then, David goes through the priest to inquire of the Lord.
6.  Applications:
   1. I see three parts to the applications: 1) Pause; 2) Receive your strength from the Lord; then, 3) inquire of the Lord.
   2. Pause- Notice in 1 Sam. 30:4: David and his men wept. We talked about that already. We must take time to process. When you are going through something, grab a journal and write down what you are thinking, feeling, and going through. Call a friend. Talk to me, or a Christian counselor. They could have gone straight to battle, but they didn’t.
   3. Secondly, receive strength from the Lord. Listen, prayer is not just asking the Lord for things. David has not yet asked the Lord. We don’t know how, but somehow David gains strength from the Lord. I know how we can gain strength from the Lord. Put the promises of God at the forefront of your mind. Meditate on Scripture. Take a few moments and go through Psalm 139:1-5. Write each verse, make some observations, then resolve, and write a prayer. Do that with many other passages.
   4. Thirdly, ask the Lord for guidance.
   5. We are focusing on prayer all year.
   6. I encourage you: Pause, gain strength from the Lord, and seek the Lord.

[1] Website accessed on 01.05.2026

Patton’s Prayer

^[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 1 Sa 30:1.

^[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 1 Sa 30:1.

^[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 538.

^[5] Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 1 Sa 30:1.

[6] Gal Beckerman. What If Our Ancestors Didn’t Feel Anything Like We Do? The Atlantic; December 5, 2025. Accessed on December 31, 2025.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/human-ancestors-emotion-history/684959/

^[7] Charles R. Swindoll, Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny (Discover More About the Real King David of the Bible. Perfect for Fans of House of David) (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 118.

^[8] Winfred O. Neely, “1 Samuel,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 439.

Pray that God Strengthens Your Soul (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36; Heb. 12:1-2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 8, 2026

Pray that God Strengthens Your Soul (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36; Heb. 12:1-2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 8, 2026

How does prayer affect revival?

Listen to this-

Tim Keller writes:

Let me tell you about the 1850s. In 1855, London churches were dead and in a lot of trouble. There was a great big Baptist chapel called New Park Street Chapel that seated 1,500 people, and only 150 or so people were ever there. It was a typical big-city church, great big sanctuary, built for all these people, and there’s just a little tiny group of people huddled together in one corner. They called a 19-year-old man to preach at that church. He had never even finished high school. His name was Charles Spurgeon.

Spurgeon led lots of people to begin to pray for a visitation of God, and he even developed a structure where the people … There was always a group of people praying for him whenever he preached. For the rest of his life he had people who probably never heard him preach because they always prayed for him when he was preaching. There were 150 people or less in that church when he got there. One year later, there were 3,000 people coming, and he baptized 300 converts.

It got worse and worse. They had to knock the building down, so while they were building a new building they went into something called the Surrey Music Hall that seated 10,000 people, and sure enough, whenever he was in there 10,000 people showed up. At one point they went to something called the Crystal Palace which seated 27,000 people, and sure enough, 27,000 people showed up.

In the year 1859, the revival broke out across the world. In 1859, not only did Spurgeon have a thousand converts get baptized and come into his church, but in that year a little group of people started praying. A group of six businessmen at Fulton Street started praying in September, I think, of 1858, and by a year later there were 10,000 businessmen praying every noon for a visitation of God. It broke out.

Some of these names may not mean much to you at this point, but Hudson Taylor, who went to China; Dwight Moody, who was a great preacher and mover and founder of colleges and so on; the Cambridge Seven; which was not a group of people who were up on charges at some courtroom but was seven graduates of the University of Cambridge who went into missions … All of the men and women who were to lead the church for the next 40 years were all converted that year: 1859.

For example, we believe that during that tremendous awakening, one-third of all of the population of Northern Ireland was converted and brought into the church. At least two million new people joined the churches in the northeast United States from 1858 to 1859. Two million … back when the population was considerably smaller.^[1]

We are spending a year-long focus on prayer.

Today, my theme is:

Pray that God strengthens your soul.

1. Luke 21:36 is about praying for spiritual strength, but what is the context?
   1. Context:
   2. Beginning in Luke 21:25, Jesus begins teaching about the signs that will precede His second coming.
   3. In Luke 21:5-24, Jesus warned of the destruction of the Temple.
2. Let’s look at the events preceding Jesus’s second coming.
   1. Luke 21:25–26 (ESV)
   2. ²⁵ “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
   3. He is now speaking of something more distant.
   4. Signs in the heavens- sun, moon, and stars. These may be metaphorical and not literal.
   5. Nations dealing with calamities.
   6. One source shares: Jesus described the days prior to the second coming itself as days of upheaval—cosmic, 21:25a, 26b (cf. Jl 2:30–31; Ac 2:19–20a); international, Lk 21:25b; terrestrial, 21:25c; and social, 21:26a (cf. Rv 15–19). “Humans will be overcome by fear” (Bock, Luke, 1683).^[2]
   7. Luke 21:27–28 (ESV)
   8. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
   9. Now, they see Jesus. “Son of Man” is Jesus’s favorite title for Himself. This goes back to Daniel 7:13ff.
   10. Jesus is coming on the clouds with power and great glory.
   11. Jesus is coming again.
   12. Look at verse 28:
   13. You see these things begin to take place…
   14. Straighten up and raise your heads, your redemption is drawing near.
   15. It is as if He is saying, “Don’t be discouraged. Look up! Be encouraged!”
   16. Before this, Jesus talked about the many difficult times as the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Then Jesus taught about the cosmic upheaval that would occur in the future.
   17. Many think this is now at the beginning, or some point, during the tribulation period. If so, there is a lot of suffering.
   18. Jesus says, “Your redemption is drawing near.”
   19. “Redemption here is used in a broad sense, not deliverance from the penalty of sin but deliverance from a fallen world” (Bock, Luke, 1687). Jesus’ return will mark the ultimate victory over the forces of the world and Satan.^[3]
   20. Redemption refers to the time of Christ’s return, when mortality puts on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53) and the redemption of the body takes place (Rom. 8:23).^[4]
3. The lesson of the Fig Tree (Luke 21:29-33).
   1. Luke 21:29–33 (ESV)
   2. ²⁹ And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
   3. I imagine Jesus looking at the trees as He shared this illustration.
   4. What is the point?
   5. Jesus tells us in verse 31. We can interpret seasons based on the leaves on the trees; likewise, when we see these events, we know that the Kingdom of God is near.
   6. In this case, the Kingdom of God means “God’s rule.”
   7. Luke 21:32 is interesting. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.
   8. A “generation” can have many different meanings. This could mean “this generation of believers” throughout the entire present age, or (b) to “this evil generation” that will remain until Christ returns to establish his kingdom (cf. Matt. 12:45; Luke 11:29).^[5] Another thought (from the Moody Bible Commentary): The note about this generation (21:32a) is best taken to refer to the generation that is alive when these events begin to unfold (not to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking; similarly). Jesus’ point is, “When the signs come, they will proceed quickly; they will not drag on for generations. It will happen within a generation” (Bock, Luke, 1692)^[6]
   9. However, there are other respectable views, such as, “This generation” refers to those alive in the tribulation period.
   10. Notice verse 35: God’s word, Jesus’s word, will not pass away.
4. Watch Out and Be Ready! Pray! (Luke 21:34-38)
   1. Now, we get to the part about prayer.
   2. Luke 21:34–38 (ESV)
   3. ³⁴ “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
   4. Verse 34 is a warning, and that ought to lead to applications for all of us.
   5. Jesus is saying, “Don’t let your heart be weighed down with wasteful living.” Dissipation means the squandering of money, time, and energy.
   6. Jesus is saying, “Focus on what matters.”
   7. Jesus is saying, “If you are focused on worldly things, drunkenness, affluence, living for this age alone, you will miss the signs.”
   8. Verse 35: the judgment will come upon all, everyone.
   9. This indicates the universality of judgment.^[7]
   10. Verse 36 brings out praying for God to strengthen your soul.
   11. ³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
   12. “Stay awake”: does this mean, don’t sleep? No, Jesus is using an idiom to mean “stay alert.” Don’t fall into spiritual sleep.
   13. Be spiritually alert at all times.
   14. Be watchful.
   15. “Pray that you have strength,” but what for? Strength to “escape all these things.”
   16. He is saying pray for spiritual strength so that you know Christ and you do not abandon your faith. You escape the judgment of the world.
   17. That is: pray to escape judgment and hear him say, “Well done” (Luke 19:17).^[8]
   18. What are we praying for?
   19. Two things are on my mind.
   20. First, pray that you stay alert so that you can stand before the throne of God and hear “well done.”
   21. Secondly, pray that you may have the strength to escape all these things. I think Jesus means escape to heaven. No matter what, these things do not trap us. They do not destroy us spiritually. We do not lose faith. One writes: Jesus’ blood and righteousness will shield them from God’s wrath, which will come on the wicked at the end of history (3:7; 1 Thess. 1:10).^[9]
   22. Further, praying brings spiritual strength to maintain alertness. It enables disciples to withstand the temptation to depart from God’s will and consequently to stand before the Son of Man when He returns without shame. Faithful perseverance in the midst of persecution is in view (cf. v. 19).^[10]
5. Final thoughts-
   1. Jesus gives us a strong warning in Luke 21:34. Are we weighed down with dissipation? What is that? It is wasteful living. It is the squandering of money, time, and energy. Are we weighed down with wasteful living?
   2. Jesus is saying, “Focus on what matters.”
   3. Jesus is saying, “If you are focused on worldly things, drunkenness, affluence, living for this age alone, you will miss the signs.”
   4. Are we focusing on what matters?
   5. That leads to prayer.
   6. Are we on alert?
   7. Are we living as if we are in a spiritual battle (Eph. 6:10-12)?
   8. Are we praying for spiritual strength?
   9. Are we praying that the Lord gives us the ability to withstand sin?
   10. Are we praying that the Lord gives us the ability to resist the devil (James 4:7)?
   11. Are we in the Scriptures?
   12. How can we study the Bible, study the promises of God, and not worship the One those promises are about? I believe the Bible is written about a Big God. An atheist student once confronted Tony Campolo. The young man told Campolo, “For me to believe in God, I have to have a God that I can understand.” And Campolo replied, “God refuses to be that small!”[11]
   13. Timothy Keller shares: In Eugene Peterson’s book called Answering God, He makes a strong case that we only pray well if we are immersed in Scripture. We learn our prayer vocabulary the way children learn their vocabulary—that is, by getting immersed in language and then speaking it back. And he said the prayer book of the Bible is the Psalms, and our prayer life would be immeasurably enriched if we were immersed in the Psalms. So that was the first step. I realized I needed to do that, but I didn’t know how.[12]
   14. In Matt. 6:13 Jesus instructs us to pray: “lead us not into temptation.” Are we praying against sin?

Keep your eyes on Jesus-

Tim Keller shares:

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you – it’s about him.[13]

Let’s pray now

^[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

1. compare or consult
2. compare or consult

^[2] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1592.

^[3] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1592.

^[4] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2003.

^[5] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1875.

^[6] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1592.

^[7] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Lk 21:35.

^[8] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2004.

^[9] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 1832.

^[10] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Lk 21:36.

[11] (From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Trusting in Ravens, 8/8/2011)

[12] Tim Keller

[13] Tim Keller address: “Gospel-Centered Ministry,” from the Gospel Coalition conference in 2007. Website posting article on May 23, 2007. Accessed on Dec. 22, 2025

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/keller-gospel-centered-ministry/