CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION
Sunday March 27th 2022
Sermon by Pastor Marc E Simeon
FRÈRES PRIEZ POUR NOUS / BRETHREN PRAY FOR US
1Th 5:25 Frères, priez pour nous.
1Th 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.
- This is indeed one of the shortest verses in the Bible, but I am glad that a whole verse is dedicated to what could be seen as a cliché.
- This is the great Apostle Paul suing the brethren from Thessalonica for prayer assistance for himself and for his team.
- People often call on the men and women of God to pray for them.
- People sometimes believe that we men of God are made with firmer spiritual materials than the rest of humanity.
- Sometimes people may think that the men of God are walking around fully armored for all sorts of spiritual battles.
- We fantasize that the men and women of God wear a stronger helmet of salvation than the common saints.
- We may think that they have an oversized shield of faith large enough to protect themselves and others at all times.
- Unfortunately, many of us leaders validate that erroneous assumption by displaying an attitude of invulnerability toward sin, temptation and discouragement.
- Here Paul is proving us wrong by displaying himself as the one in need of prayer.
- Paul was humble enough to seek the spiritual assistance of the church in many other instances.
Prayer for open doors to share the gospel
- Col 4:3 Priez en même temps pour nous, afin que Dieu nous ouvre une porte pour la parole, en sorte que je puisse annoncer le mystère de Christ, pour lequel je suis dans les chaînes,
- 3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
Prayer assistance for the expansion of the Gospel and for personal protection
- 2Th 3:1 ¶ Au reste, frères, priez pour nous, afin que la parole du Seigneur se répande et soit glorifiée comme elle l’est chez-vous, 2 et afin que nous soyons délivrés des hommes méchants et pervers; car tous n’ont pas la foi.
- 1 ¶ Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
Prayer assistance for inspiration, conviction and bravery
- Eph 6:19 ¶ Priez pour moi, afin qu’il me soit donné, quand j’ouvre la bouche, de faire connaître hardiment et librement le mystère de l’Évangile, 20 pour lequel je suis ambassadeur dans les chaînes, et que j’en parle avec assurance comme je dois en parler.
- 19 ¶ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
- prayer request for enduring temptation and for total obedience to the will of god.
- Jesus once needed the prayer assistance of His disciples.
- Gethsemane was the greatest spiritual warfare that Jesus ever had to encounter.
- He had yet to surrender His total will to the will of the Father while fully aware of the atrocity associated.
- Jesus was even more transparent than Paul in request for prayer assistance.
- Mt 26:38 Il leur dit alors: Mon âme est triste jusqu’à la mort; restez ici, et veillez avec moi. (LSV)
- 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” (NKJV)
- What Jesus meant by watch was prayer because that’s exactly what He went to the Garden to do.
THE EFFECT OF PRAYER ADDRESSED ON BEHALF OF THE MEN OF GOD.
- Peter got miraculously release from jail while the church was praying for him.
- While the leaders were praying in the church of Antioch, God told them to set Barnabas and Paul apart for the special mission to evangelize the nations.
- While Peter was praying in the 6th hour, God revealed the mission to go over Cornelius’ house.
- Jesus used to spend ample time in prayer before each ministry move.
- Paul and Silas got their midnight miracle in the Philippians’ jail while they were praying.
- Prayer is the currency with which we execute our transactions in the kingdom of God.
- The greater the scale of one’s operation in the Kingdom of God on earth, the stronger his prayer life must be.
- Others also have to join the men of God with their prayers.
PRAYER IS A SPIRITUAL DATA
- Think of Prayer like data in your cell phones.
- While most mobile phones have unlimited data in the US, it was not always like that.
- Although I supposedly have unlimited data with my cheap plan, in the middle of the month, they would send me a warning that I am almost at the roof in my data usage.
- I watch jealously to see what some people’s phone can do that my phone cannot do.
- A rich prayer life increases your heavenly data.
- They always tell me how the data is spent.
- Each one of these apps we download on our phone sucks the data bank.
- Youtube, whatsapp, facebook, instagram, google, text, email continuously drawing the data bank.
- It’s no different in our spiritual data, all our gifts are drawing on the spiritual data bank.
- To maintain the fruits of the spirit draws a lot of spiritual data.
- To resist temptation draws a lot of spiritual data.
- To confront the enemy, make a big drawing in our spiritual data.
- We’re constantly in need of spiritual data refilling all of us who are up front.
- Satan is constantly monitoring the level of our spiritual data reserve.
- Each Sin causes a big leak of spiritual data.
- As the five G is being introduced to the world; a regular cell phone will be as fast as modern computers if not faster.
- Also in the cell phone world, people can add minutes to your phones.
- It takes me a good while to understand the process.
- I was talking to my friend Pastor Lucon Chery in Haiti, my calling card won out and I lost the communication.
- When I finally reconnected with him, he said, “I just added some minutes for you.”
- I was confused with the statement; I was telling myself, “How can somebody in Haiti add minutes to my phone in the United States.”
- I later found out that it was a common practice.
- Your pastor, your spiritual leaders need as many heavenly minutes that they can get.
- It may seem that they should be the ones sharing minutes with you.
- In most instances that can be true.
- Remember that the pastors use more spiritual data than you because they are placed in the forefront of the battle.
THE SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUESTS OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD
ANOINTING: without the anointing of God, they will begin to operate with strange fire.
WISDOM: wisdom was what Salomon asked God for to lead his people. God’s wisdom is needed for effective service to God.
SOUND DOCTRINE: The sound doctrine is always under attack. People want preachers to modernize their message to fit the mold of the present philosophies. God forbids anyone to edit His Word backed by grave consequences
FAITH: Lack of faith is one of the pitfalls of modern Christian leaders. We tend to move by the budget instead of by the promptings of God.
PERSEVERANCE: The paths of the men and women of God are often tedious, mountainous and unpaved. We always fear the possibility of quitting for the sake of convenience.
PHYSICAL SECURITY: Satan is always after to arm the Children of God starting with the ones in the forefront. Church kidnapping is in fashion nowadays. People who are jealous seek to harm us. People who are at odd with our preaching and convictions are geared to hurt the men and women of God.
FINANCIAL SECURITY: This is a sensible area for most Christian leaders. You tailor all your life for people who in most cases have no sense of responsibility toward your wellbeing or your future.
FAMILY ISSUES: The preacher can be easily disqualified by the malfunction of his immediate family. While chasing the dream to grow a church, his family is in great jeopardy from the relentless attacks of the devil.
WORKERS RELATIONSHIP: Good working relations are paramount to achieve any measure of success in the work of God. Satan is always hammering to break the unity in the church.
POSITIVITY: If you ever wear the mantle of a leader, you will quickly discover that dealing with people can cause the most positive person into a coldhearted and frigid being.
DISCERNMENT: We in the front line are always in need of discernment, for the devil always comes in disguise. We need discernment to always differentiate between the voice of God and that of the devil.
FORGIVENESS: Oh! We men and women of God need to have a good flushing system when people wrong us. Holding grudges, being bitter, and using passive aggressively are some of the common snares on our paths.
PRIDE: We need prayer against pride, against a sense of auto-sufficiency and self-importance.
FUTURE: Unlike the rest of humanity, most men and women of God have no clue concerning the security of their future except to know that God will work something out.
EFFECTIVENESS: Efficiency is a big problem for the ones who work for God. We live in an ever changing world that demands constant adaptation. Men and women of God are overwhelmed with having to learn a new trick every passing day to stay on course with the present generation.
SEXUAL TEMPTATION: Sexual sin is one of the most common pitfalls and one of the most potent artilleries of the devil against the chosen of God. All men of God need prayer against that specific.
LAZINESS: Many men and women of God are simply lazy and sluggish in the work they do for God. The Bible says in Pr 18:9 ¶ He who is slothful in his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. (NKJV) /¶ Celui qui se relâche dans son travail Est frère de celui qui détruit. (LSV)
SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS / LOW SELF ESTEEM: The Christians workers, although equally prepared with their counterparts in the secular world have rarely been rewarded accordingly materially speaking. The very call to the ministry may produce a sense of unworthiness.
JEALOUSY: Jealousy is the secret demon that is tearing apart the body of Christ all over the world.
SPIRIT OF COMPETITION: The spirit of competition is a byproduct of Jealousy and pride that is causing havoc in our churches these days. The haves have no business with the haves not. The haves not are trying to catch-up by all means possible creating a mess in the body of Christ.
HUMILITY AND CONFIDENCE: pray for us to be fully dependent upon God and yet to have the self assurance that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
LAST REPORT BEFORE GOD: As all accountants have to present before their superiors to give reports, so will all of those whom God has entrusted to lead his people.
CONCLUSION
1Th 5:25 Frères, priez pour nous.
1Th 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.
Pasteur Marc Simeon 