Latest / Reformed Thinking / Brothers, Let Us Pray | John Piper

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Brothers, Let Us Pray | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking, the podcast for those who desire to
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delve into biblical truths and theological discussions.
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And welcome to the Deep Dive. This is where we take a good
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look at various sources, notes, articles, and pull out the core
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insights for you. Today we're focusing on
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something absolutely central to Christian life, but maybe
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something we don't always grasp. The full weight of prayer.
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Specifically, it's nature and role.
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Particularly when we think about Christian service, about
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ministry, about just living day-to-day, we're looking at
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some writings that really push back against common ideas about,
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you know, success and what we humans can actually achieve on
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our own. They really urge us to, well,
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rethink our dependence on God. That's exactly right.
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Our goal here, our mission for this deep dive, is pretty clear.
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We want to uncover some foundational truths about how
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God actually works through prayer.
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We'll dig into why just relying on human methods, our strategies
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often fall short, and how God sets things up really so that he
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gets the glory in the end. The aim is for you listening to
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get a really clear picture of what prayer is, why it's so, so
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central, and what it tells us about how God operates and
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frankly, how we should approach Him.
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Yeah. And the sources we're drawing on
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today are quite potent. We're mainly looking at John
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Piper's work. Brothers, we are not
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professionals, especially a section called Brothers Let us
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Pray. But we're also bringing in some
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historical figures, people like William Wilberforce, Jerome, to
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their lives really seem to echo these truths about prayer in a
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powerful way. So let's get started.
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Prayer as the divinely designed connection.
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OK, so let's start with this foundational idea about prayer
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that's presented. It's well, the source calls it
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astonishing player isn't just you know what a spiritual
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discipline we do is presented as something much more core to how
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God actually chooses to get things done in the world.
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They use this phrase, a coupling of realities.
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What are they getting out with that?
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Right, that phrase coupling of primary and secondary causes.
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It really gets to the heart of it.
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It unpacked something quite surprising about how God
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interacts with us and his world. Think about God the primary
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'cause he's got all power, his will is sovereign, he's the
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creator, his plans are set. He doesn't need anything.
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For example, he might purpose to grow his people Israel or save
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someone's life or send out workers for his harvest.
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These are his intentions, his divine.
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Well, that's the primary cause settled ensure.
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Now here's the mind blowing part.
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The secondary 'cause that's human prayer.
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Us asking what? What's just remarkable, and it
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feels almost backward, is that God, who could just make His
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plans happen, instantly chooses to bring them about by being
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asked to do so by by finite people.
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He actually desires to channel His blessings to fulfill His
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purposes through this link, this coupling of His sovereign plan
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and our human asking. It's His chosen way, not because
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He needs it, but because He wants to involve us in this way.
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It's less about changing His mind and more about Him
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ordaining our prayers as the means for His will to unfold.
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So it's this divine preference. God actually wants to involve
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us, not because he's lacking something, but just because he
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chooses to. That image used in the source is
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so vivid, isn't it the splicing of our limp wire to the
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lightning bolt of heaven that really hits home our human
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capacity? It's so limited.
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We're like that limp wire, you know, we can't generate any real
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power ourselves. We're weak, finite, often
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feeling even in small things, let alone things of eternal
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significance. But when that wire or weakness
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are asking connects to God through prayer, suddenly it taps
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into his immense power, the lightning bolt of heaven.
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It means our own inadequacy when we, connected to God in prayer,
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can actually access his divine ability.
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It allows things to happen that are completely beyond us.
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That changes how you think about what's possible, doesn't it?
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It really does. It's profound thought.
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God isn't just generally generous.
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He doesn't just love to bless, the sources argue.
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He loves even more to bless. Specifically an answer to
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prayer. It's not that our prayers are a
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prerequisite for him to act like he's waiting helplessly.
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No, it's his chosen method to display his power to under score
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our absolute dependence on him and ultimately to make sure all
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the credit, all the glory goes back to him.
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It's like a divine partnership he initiates.
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Think about Ezekiel 36 verse 37. God clearly states his plan.
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He's going to increase the population of Israel, make them
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like a flock. That's his sovereign intention.
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But right after saying that, he adds this also.
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I will let the House of Israel asked me to do for them.
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You see it right there, God's plan, the primary cause is
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linked to His desire for them to ask the secondary 'cause He
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wanted to multiply them, but He decided He would do it when they
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petitioned Him for it. It shows He wants His people
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involved in asking, even for things He's already decided to
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do. They're asking participates in
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His work. And it's not an isolated
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instance. You see this pattern again and
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again in Scripture. Another example that comes up is
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in Genesis 20, verse 7. Abimelech had taken Sarah,
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Abraham's wife. Unknowingly.
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God intended to spare Abimelech's life despite this
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serious offense. But how did God arrange it?
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He didn't just fix it directly. He told him like return the
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man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you,
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and you shall live. God could have just spared him,
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but he chose to make the deliverance happen through
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Abraham's prayer, again linking his action to the prayer of his
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servant. Exactly.
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And then there's that very direct command from Jesus
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himself in Matthew 9 verse 38. He sees the crowd, sees their
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spiritual need, like sheep without a shepherd.
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He says the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are
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few. Now gathering this harvest is
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clearly God's desire, right? A core divine purpose.
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But notice Jesus doesn't say, OK, let's brainstorm recruitment
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strategies or go find more workers.
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He says, therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the
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harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
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Even for something so central to God's plan gathering His people,
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His preferred method involves us asking Him to do it.
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He loves to work through the prayers of his own people.
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So pulling these examples together, it paints a really
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consistent picture. God loves to bless, He loves to
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act, and He specifically loves doing it in response to His
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people asking Him. Prayer isn't just us venting or
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making requests, it's interacting with God in the way
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He has designed, the way He actually prefers to operate.
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And if that's the case, well, it fundamentally changes how we
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should approach everything, especially anything we undertake
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in His name, any kind of ministry or service.
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This understanding really sets up that powerful quote from AC
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Dixon, just cuts through so many of our assumptions.
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He said when we depend upon organizations, we get what
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organizations can do. When we depend upon education,
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we get what education can do. When we depend upon man, we get
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what man can do. But when we depend upon prayer,
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we get what God can do. That Dixon quote really draws a
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sharp line in the sand, doesn't it?
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When our reliance is on human structures, organizations,
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however brilliant they might be, the results are inevitably
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limited by human capacity, human design, human effort, human
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wisdom. It can only go so far.
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Same with education. Rely on teaching and knowledge
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transfer and you get the results that human intellect can
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produce. Rely on individual human effort,
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our own strength and striving, and again, the outcome is
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limited to human scale. These things are finite, often
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temporary. But Dixon says when we truly
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depend on prayer, when we engage in that coupling, we were
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talking about splicing our weak wire to his lightning bolt, then
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we are accessing God's limitless power.
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This reliance on prayer opens the door for outcomes that are
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just completely beyond human explanation or capability.
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We're not just talking about, you know, bigger numbers or more
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efficiency. We're talking about a difference
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in kind, genuine spiritual transformation, hearts being
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changed, people turning to God in a way that only he can bring
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about. This understanding shapes
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everything, especially for those called to ministry.
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It means the real fruit, the lasting stuff, isn't something
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we can manufacture. Human insufficiency and the
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need. For divine grace, Which leads us
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straight into a major challenge, doesn't it?
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Especially for pastors, leaders, anyone really trying to serve
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God. Their very calling involves
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working towards goals that are ultimately God's gifts to give.
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It creates this inherent tension.
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Absolutely the core objectives. Of ministry that these.
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Pastors long to see things we all hope for in people's lives.
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Genuine salvation, growing love for God and neighbor.
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Strong, active with faith, real spiritual wisdom, deep abiding
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joy. The source says these are
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unquestionably beyond our reach. Let me think about it
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practically. Can a pastor program someone
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into loving God? Can they teach a class that
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guarantees saving faith and they strategize someone into having
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true spiritual insight? Well, no.
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These things just don't happen through human effort alone.
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They happen only by a sovereign work of grace.
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Scripture is really clear on this salvation.
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Ephesians 2.8 By grace you've been saved through faith.
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It is the gift of God love First Thessalonians 3.1 Paul praise
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God would make them increase and abound in love.
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It's God's work faith. There's Timothy 1.112 Paul says
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grace overflowed for him with faith and love comes from Christ
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wisdom. Ephesians 1.17 Paul praise God
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would give a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
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It's a gift joy. Romans 15.13 May the God of hope
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fill you with all joy. It comes from God.
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All these core spiritual realities, they're gifts.
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God bestows them. We can't.
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Produce them in ourselves or others.
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We can only ask for them and receive them.
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So pastors, ministers, they labor, right?
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They work hard to save some, to stir up, to love, to advance
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faith, to impart wisdom, to work for joy.
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They pour themselves out. But the actual granting of these
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things, the spiritual reality taking root, that's entirely up
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to God. It's a fascinating dynamic.
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We're called to strive to make every effort.
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Absolutely. But the ultimate success, the
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true fruit, isn't a product of our effort.
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It depends wholly on God giving the growth, which really
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highlights our total dependence. And that can be hard to accept,
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especially in a world that values competence and
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self-sufficiency so highly. And that's why the source makes
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that really pointed, almost startling claim.
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A pastor who feels competent in himself to produce eternal fruit
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knows neither God nor himself. Now that's not meant to condemn,
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but to highlight a fundamental misunderstanding.
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Feeling self confident in this area means you haven't really
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grasped God's absolute sovereignty, His unique role and
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our profound limitations as humans.
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A pastor, or really any believer who isn't living in what the
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source calls a rhythm of desperation and deliverance.
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That cycle of hitting the wall of your own inability, crying
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out to God and then seeing him work that person will inevitably
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focus only on what humans can achieve.
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They might build things, organize things, run programs,
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but they risk missing the actual divine activity, the
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supernatural work only God can do.
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They might get human results, but not necessarily eternal
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fruit. That idea of limitation really
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resonates with what Jesus said in John 15.5, doesn't it?
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Apart from me, you can do nothing.
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It's so absolute, stark even. And the source connects this
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directly to prayer, saying that prayer is essentially the
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translation into 1000 different words of a single sentence.
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Apart from me, you can do nothing.
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If we really let that sink in, if we truly believe that apart
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from Christ, our efforts yield nothing of eternal value, it has
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to change everything. How we plan, how we work, how we
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structure our days, how we see ministry itself.
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It's not just a theological concept, it's a radical
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reorientation of our whole approach to life and service.
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Yes, absolutely. And the implication of ignoring
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that truth, of neglecting prayer, of not constantly
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translating apart from me, you could do nothing into desperate
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petition. Well, the consequence is
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sobering. The source says without prayer,
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all are scurrying about, all are talking.
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All our study amounts to nothing in terms of lasting spiritual
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results. Think about that.
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All the energy, the planning, the meetings, the sermons, the
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counselor, the outreach efforts, if they're not bathed in, fueled
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by, utterly dependent on prayer, they ultimately achieve nothing.
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Nothing eternal. We might be incredibly busy
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doing things for God, but if we're disconnected from Him
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through prayer, our activity lacks that divine spark, that
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power to bring about genuine, lasting change in hearts.
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It can look productive but be spiritually hollow.
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And that sets up the internal battle that so many face, right?
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The source puts it so well. The voice of self-reliance is 10
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times louder than the bell that tolls for the hours of prayer.
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That voice of pragmatism, of urgency.
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It's constantly shouting, isn't it?
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It says you must answer that e-mail, you must make that call.
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You must finish the sermon. You must prepare for that
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meeting. You must go visit the hospital.
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These tasks feel immediate, tangible, necessary.
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They promise visible progress. Urgent demands.
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Exactly. But meanwhile, almost ground
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out, the bell tolls softly. Without me, you can do nothing.
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It's just so easy to ignore that quiet chime, isn't it?
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To prioritize the apparently urgent over the truly essential,
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We get caught up in activity, mistaking busyness for
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fruitfulness, human output for God's work.
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God's purpose for receiving glory through prayer.
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And you know, that very struggle, that tension between
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our frantic efforts and our need for divine dependence, it's
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actually part of God's design. He arranges his work, his grace,
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in such a way that no human being might boast in the
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presence of God. That's from first Corinthians
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1.29. It's not arbitrary.
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It's fundamental to why he operates the way he does.
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He wants his sovereignty, his power, his grace to be
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undeniable. And the sources emphasize that
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God accused this, usually in answer to prayer.
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Think about it. When the result is clearly
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something beyond human capability, A radically changed
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life, a revival provision against all odds.
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And it comes after people have been desperately praying who
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gets the credit. It has to be God.
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There's no other explanation. If we could have engineered it
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ourselves, we'd be tempted to take at least some of the
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credit, wouldn't we? But when it happens through
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prayer, especially prayer born out of desperation, it points
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directly back to him. It shows it was his work, not
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our cleverness or effort. It lines up perfectly with First
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Peter 4.11. Whoever serves, let him do so as
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one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that
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in everything God may be glorified.
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And Paul's statement in First Corinthians 3.7 is just so blunt
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about it. Neither he who plants nor he who
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waters is anything but. Only God who gives the growth.
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It just demolishes any ground for human pride.
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God gets all the glory because he's the only one who could have
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actually done it. Right, and that posture of
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dependence, that collapse of self-reliance, that issues in
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passionate prayer for help is actually something God delights
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in, the source says. A cry for help from the heart of
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a childlike pastor is sweet praise in the ears of God.
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It's not that God enjoys seeing us struggle, but He is exalted
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when we recognize our need for Him.
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Nothing, the source claims, exalts him more than the
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collapse of self-reliance at issues and passionate prayer for
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help. When we finally stop trying to
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muscle through on our own strength and turn to Him in
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heartfelt need, that act dependent trust magnifies his
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sufficiency and His grace. It's worship.
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Look at Psalm 50 verse 15. God himself says call upon me in
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the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall
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glorify me. See the connection, our
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desperate call, His deliverance and our subsequent glorifying
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Him. It's a cycle.
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He initiates and orchestrates. He delivers us to the that we
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will glorify Him. His action in response to our
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prayer is central to His plan for His own glory to be seen and
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acknowledged. So this experience, this wythm
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of desperation and deliverance that the source talks about,
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it's not something to be avoided or seen as a sign of weakness.
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It's actually essential for pastors, yes, but really for any
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Christian who wants to be effective for God.
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It's the normal Christian life, properly understood.
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Exactly. It's not a sign of spiritual
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immaturity. It's a sign of understanding
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reality, our limits, and God's limitlessness.
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Living in this rhythm keeps us from settling for only what man
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can achieve. It keeps us reaching through
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prayer for what God can achieve. It prevents ministry from
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becoming just managing programs or relying on human talent
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alone. It reminds me of Paul's cry in
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2nd Corinthians 2.16. Who is sufficient for these
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things? Here's the Apostle Paul,
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arguably one of the most gifted and empowered individuals in
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history, openly acknowledging his inadequacy for the task God
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had given him. If Paul felt that weight, that
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sense of needing God's efficiency, how much more should
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we cultivate that same posture of humble, desperate reliance?
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The call to intentional prayer. Matter of practice and heart.
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Which brings us squarely to a concern the sources raise about
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our contemporary situation. We talk about a deadly
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pragmatism. It's this mindset that subtly
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emphasizes management techniques.
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Strategic planning, efficient maneuvering is the main ways to
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get things done, especially in ministry.
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Prayer gets a mention. Maybe reliance on the Spirit
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gets a nod, but often it feels like a token edition, not the
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actual engine. Human strategies take center
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stage and prayer becomes, well, almost like a formality or a
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backup plan, rather than the primary essential connection to
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the source of all power and fruitfulness.
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And it's so easy to fall into that, isn't it?
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Our own natural bend, our flesh and just the culture around us.
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It all pushes against taking serious time for prayer.
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Spend an hour, let alone 2, on our knees when the desk is pilot
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high with urgent tasks. It feels deeply
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counterintuitive, almost irresponsible in a modern
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context. Efficiency, measurable results,
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tangible output. That's what's valued.
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It can feel, as the source puts it, UN American to be so
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impractical as to devote oneself to prayer and meditation 2 hours
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a day. We're geared for action, for
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doing. But the source suggests that
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often when churches aren't seeing real spiritual
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breakthroughs, when lives aren't being fundamentally changed, the
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core issue isn't a lack of good programs or not enough staff.
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It might be something deeper, a lack of genuine, heartfelt love
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for those who are spiritually lost, a lack of that deep,
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aching desire for their salvation.
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That is such a searching point and it leads to a question that
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the sources posed directly you, the listener.
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A question that cuts deep. Does it lie within your
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capability right now to weep over the spiritual destruction
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of the people on your street? Can you just by deciding to
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manufacture a genuine heart wrenching burden for the lost?
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The sources argue no. Such tears, that kind of
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authentic deep compassion are described as miracles.
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They cannot be managed or maneuvered into existence.
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You can't schedule them or strategize them into being.
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They come only through a sovereign work of God.
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They are gifts born out of God's Spirit working in us, not
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something we generate ourselves. OK, so if we can't produce this
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kind of compassion, this necessary heartbreak for the
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lost on our own, how do we get it?
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This is where the idea of agonizing prayer comes in, and
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the term agonize is used very intentionally here.
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It points back to Romans 15.30, where Paul asks the Roman
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Christians to strive together. Sunagunasastai with me and your
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prayers to God on my behalf. Right.
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That Greek word, sunagunasastai is an intense word.
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It means to contend earnestly, like an athlete straining in a
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competition, to wrestle, to exert intense effort.
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It's not passive wishing. So agonizing prayer isn't just
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mumbling a quick request. It's this fervent, persistent,
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maybe even desperate wrestling with God, pleading for something
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specific like those tears for the loss, like that deep
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compassion that we know we need but can't create ourselves.
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It's praying with an intensity that acknowledges the
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impossibility from a human standpoint and throws oneself
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completely onto God's mercy and power.
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The source suggests that without this kind of prayer, without God
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granting this kind of burden, we might just end up shuffling
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people around, maybe moving them from one church program to
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another. But we won't see many truly
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pass. From darkness to light, from
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spiritual death to life, the deep, necessary cry becomes God.
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Break my heart. Give me your heart for these
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people. And this call for intense,
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prioritized prayer isn't some novel idea.
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History gives us powerful examples, individuals whose
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lives challenge our modern assumptions about what's
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practical or necessary. Take William Wilberforce.
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Here's a man deeply involved in the high stakes world of British
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Parliament, fighting one of the greatest moral battles of his
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time, the abolition of the slave trade.
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Immense pressure, constant demands.
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Yet he himself wrote about feeling the negative effects of
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his busyness. He lamented his perpetual hurry
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of business and company, saying it was ruining him spiritually,
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leaving him feeling lean and cold and hard.
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He saw the danger. His response wasn't just to try
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harder or manage his time better.
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In a worldly sense. He made a conscious decision, a
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resolution to carve out significant time, 2 hours or an
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hour and a half daily, specifically for religious
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exercises, including private prayer, meditation, and reading
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scripture. He understood this wasn't
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optional. He concluded without a due
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measure of private devotions, the soul will grow wean.
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His public effectiveness was fueled by his private devotion.
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He knew where the power came from.
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Exactly. He called prayer almighty
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prayer, but he was clear that its power wasn't inherent in the
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ACT itself, but came only through the gracious ordination
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of the God of loving truth. And his impassioned plea, born
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from his own experience of seeing God work through prayer
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was simple. On then pray, pray.
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Pray. And then there's the story of
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Jerome, as recounted by Spurgeon.
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Jerome, a major church father facing the monumental task of
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translating the Bible into Latin.
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What became the Vulgate? What did he do?
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He made a radical choice. He laid aside all pressing
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engagements. He actually told his large
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congregation, essentially, you need to find someone else for a
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while. He said he was bound for the
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wilderness and shall not return until my task is finished.
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Think about that. He removed himself from the
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immediate demands of public ministry to focus intensely on
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this God-given task. He secluded himself and labored
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and prayed until he produced the Latin Vulgate, a work that
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shaped Christianity for centuries, bringing his virgin
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said glory to God. It's a stark example of
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prioritizing deep work, fueled by prayer and solitude over the
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constant noise of seemingly urgent demands.
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He knew the lasting work required focus dependence.
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And Wilberforce and Jerome aren't outliers.
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When you look into the lives of people like Martin Luther, John
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Wesley, David Brainerd, A Donner M Judson figures God used
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mightily, you find this common thread.
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They consistently dedicated significant time, often daily
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hours, to prayer. Their example really challenges
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us today, doesn't it? It pushes back against the
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notion that spending hours in prayer is some kind of
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idealistic dream of another era, something impractical for our
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fast-paced modern lives. For them, it wasn't an
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idealistic luxury. It was the essential foundation.
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It was the source of the strength and wisdom that led to
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their remarkable impact. It wasn't secondary to their
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work. It was their primary work.
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So the challenge laid down by the sources is quite direct,
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aimed right at you, the listener, whether you're a
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pastor, a missionary, or just trying to live faithfully in
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your daily life. The suggestion is take one of
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your days off and go away by yourself and pray about how you
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should pray. And more than that, say to
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yourself right now, God help me to do something radical in
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regard to prayer. This isn't about tweaking your
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schedule slightly. It's about a potential paradigm
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shift, a fundamental re evaluation of where true power
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and effectiveness come from in the Christian life and ministry.
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It's about consciously choosing to prioritize the unseen reality
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of communion with God over the visible demands of the
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immediate. It really forces us to ask some
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hard questions, doesn't it? Our packed schedules, our
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constant connectivity, our focus on managing tasks.
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Is this approach actually satisfying our own souls, our
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deepest longing for real connection with Christ?
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And maybe more importantly, is it meeting the profound
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spiritual needs of the people around us, our families, our
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churches, the world? Maybe, just maybe, in our drive
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for efficiency, we've neglected the one thing that truly
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matters, the one connection that unlocks God's power.
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The source suggests something profound.
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People yearn to be around a man or woman who's been around God.
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When someone consistently spends unhurried, focused time in God's
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presence through prayer, it changes them.
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It imparts something, a depth, a substance, a sense of eternal
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perspective that others can perceive.
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It's described as a lingering aroma of prayer that gives a
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sense of eternity to all our work.
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It's not about appearing super spiritual.
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It's about having a genuine connection that infuses
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everything you do with a different quality, a
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weightiness, a quiet confidence that points beyond yourself to
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the God you depend on. It shows that the results aren't
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just human effort, but something more.
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And as a practical step, something concrete you can do,
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the sources recommend reading biographies of men and women of
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prayer, learning about the lives of people who truly walked this
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path, who prioritized prayer and saw God work through them.
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People like those we mentioned and many others, can be
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incredibly inspiring. It can ignite a fire in our own
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hearts, a desire to seek God with that same kind of desperate
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dependence and confident expectation.
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Their stories show us it's possible and what God can do
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through yielded lives outro. So, wrapping this up, what are
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the key takeaways from this deep dive?
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We've seen prayer presented not just as communication, but as
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God's chosen mechanism for working this amazing coupling of
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primary and secondary causes. Our weakness?
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The limp wire connected to His power, The lightning bolt.
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God actually prefers to act in response to our prayers,
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allowing what God can do to happen far beyond what man can
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do. And this dependence isn't
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weakness, it's recognizing reality.
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Our own efforts are insufficient for eternal results.
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Spiritual fruit, salvation, love, faith, these are gifts
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only God gives. Trying to operate apart from Him
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in self-reliance ultimately yields nothing of lasting value.
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True service is done in the strength He supplies, which is
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access through prayer and that very desperation.
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That cry for help is actually sweet praise to Him, ensuring He
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alone gets the glory, stripping us of any basis for boasting.
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Which lead us to the challenge to resist that deadly pragmatism
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that favors human ingenuity over divine dependence.
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To seek God for the miracle of genuine compassion, that
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agonizing love for the lost, and a cultivate A radical
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intentional life of prayer, maybe even agonizing prayer,
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learning from those throughout history who knew that private
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devotion was the non negotiable source of public fruitfulness.
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So here's a final thought to leave you with.
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Given everything we've discussed that God loves to answer prayer,
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that He orchestrates things for His glory, that true fruit only
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comes through His power accessed by prayer.
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What might God want to do in your life or through your life
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if you were to fully embrace that rhythm of desperation and
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deliverance? If you consciously started
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relying less on what you or others can do and truly
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persistently sought what only God can do?
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What possibilities might open up if we really took John 15.5 and
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first Peter 4 point love into heart in our prayer lives?
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Thank you for joining us for this deep dive.
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Here on The Deep Dive, we hope it's been insightful and maybe
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even challenging, stirring a fresh desire for a deeper life
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of prayer. We encourage you to listen to
25:40
more from Reformed Thinking.