Ever feel like your prayer life has become more of a duty than a privilege?
Something you check off your list, muttering a few sentences only when you've exhausted every other option?
Well, if that's your experience, you're not alone. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl exposes the gap between what we say about prayer and how we actually practice it. and he presents a far better way. His application is drawn from Romans chapter 15. The biblical model isn't just more productive, it's deeply satisfying and absolutely essential for breaking through spiritual opposition.
The last four verses of the fifteenth chapter of Romans. Provides us with the sacred text of our. time together you will find in your worship folder The outline for today's message, which I would like for you to place in the book just. before Romans, it's the book of Acts. locate chapter 12 and Slide it in there.
We'll begin in Acts 12 and find our way to. Romans fifteen 30 through 33. Romans 15. Beginning at verse 30.
Now, I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit. to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. That I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea. And that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.
so that I may come to you in joy. By the will of God, and find refreshing rest. in your company.
Now the God of peace be with you all. Ooh. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, Praying with Your Whole Heart.
Many things are not as they seem to be. We may have thought that they were that way most, if not all, of our lives, and then suddenly something is said or something happens that. Jolts us and gets our attention and rearranges the facts, and we realize we had missed it all along. Mm. It was a number of years ago that the The old salts of the American Football League got together for a little reunion.
As they look back over the first 20 years of their existence and They had come to celebrate along with some of the old seasoned veterans of that league, and They found themselves in Los Angeles and Sitting among them was, not surprisingly, Al Davis, the ornery and controversial owner of the Oakland Raiders. He had stories to tell. Of course, he had been there from the start and remembered the banquet that was held where. Nikki Hilton spoke and Had everyone's attention because of not only his involvement in the world of sport, but also his wealth and his notoriety. Davis told the story to the table.
And the people sitting around him, he said, he was introduced as having recently made $100,000 in the baseball business. In the city of Los Angeles. And as soon as they heard that, there was a thunderous applause. And Nikki Hilton walked up to the platform to begin his speech. And he said, Before I go on, I.
I need to clarify some things. It it wasn't me, that was my brother, Baron. Who had those experiences? And it wasn't actually Los Angeles, it was San Diego.
Okay. And it wasn't the baseball business, it was football. Um And it wasn't a hundred thousand dollars, it was a million dollars, and he didn't make it, he lost it. Other than that, it was a good introduction, huh? Many things are not as they seem.
That is so true of prayer. It would seem as though all of God's people are those who really believe in it and really practice it. And when we do, we really trust God and we leave it all with Him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Oh, we say religious words.
And we fiddle around with moments where we reach the end and we prod everything else, so we shoot up a word. hoping that somehow there might be a little magic between here and there. And changes come. Uh but prayer? Prayer was meant to be Prayer with our whole hearts.
Certainly the exception rather than the rule. Philip Yancey realized it when he was preparing to write his book on prayer. Subtitled Does it make any difference? He writes I interviewed ordinary people about prayer. Typically, the results went like this.
Is prayer important to you?
Well, how often do you pray?
Well... Every day. Approximately how long? Mm. Five minutes.
Well, maybe uh seven. Do you find prayer satisfying? No, not really. Do you sense the presence of God when you pray?
Well occasionally Not often. Many of those I talked to experienced prayer more as a burden. than a pleasure. They regarded it as important even Paramount. and felt guilty about their failure.
blaming themselves. When I listened to public prayers in evangelical churches, Yancey adds, I heard people telling God what to do. Combined with thinly veiled hints on how others should behave. When I listened to the prayers in more liberal churches, I heard calls to action. As if prayer were something to get past so we can get on the real work of God's kingdom.
Hundred Kung's Theological tome on being a Christian. seven hundred two pages long. did not include a chapter or even an index entry. On prayer. When asked later, the author said he regretted the oversight.
And embarrassingly admitted, he simply. Forgot about prayer.
Something within all of us, in secret moments, Wishes to drift back to maybe another era, another century when prayer really meant something. And when folks are pushed at that point, they will often pick the first century. Appropriate time of persecution. Time of Some of the giants of the faith living and Hammering out the theology of the faith and giving their lives, as most of them did, for the cause. Surely they were men and women of great prayer.
And in case you happen to think that, turn to Acts chapter 12. And let's look at a rather pathetic example. Of those whom you would have expected to be people of enormous faith. After all, their theology had been honed by Peter. It would soon be shaped by Paul.
It was being uh Tried in the furnace of persecution, Herod Agrippa was the monarch ruling, known for his. Brutality and severity and antagonism toward believers. We see a quick resume in the first two verses. About that time, Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. How would you like for that to happen today?
Soldiers appear at the door. They get me and they get my family and we're marched out and then you follow. And you're next. And several of you were picked. And a few of you over there, and some up there.
Gone. Gone. Taken for the purpose of mistreatment. You can fill in the blanks with your own imagination. These are not black words on white pages.
This is truth. This is a record. Herod's plan was to do with them as he had done with James, verse 2. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword. That's the man ruling the throne over the Hebrews.
The unsaved people were applauding his actions, and because what he did pleased the majority, verse 3. He saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Why not? He's the spokesman for the church. Silence him.
You silence a large arm of the church. By now, it is numbering in the thousands. By the way, if you don't like big churches, you won't like the first century church. Run out of the shoot at 3,000. Before you can blink, it's 5,000.
Before too many more months, it's six, eight, ten, multiple thousands spread all over in homes and caves and dens of the earth. Everywhere these believers are growing in Herod is Maddeningly searching for them.
So he picks Peter. We read that he uh He proceeded to arrest him. Verse 4, he seized him and put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. You know what his plan was. Another mock trial.
Just as this man's Messiah. Had been tried, arrested. and put to a cross That's Peter's future. On the very night Very moment he's there, verse five, prayer for him was being. uh made fervently by the church to God.
Of course. It's exactly what you would do if they marched some of us out. The meeting would stop. There would be pockets of prayer that would break out. You would be on your knees.
You would take the prayer home with you. You would pray through the afternoon. The end of verse 12 tells us that there were many gathered together. there in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. and they were there for prayer.
So we have two scenes. We have an impossible setting where Peter is in prison. And we have a place of prayer. Where the saints have gathered. Picture it in your mind.
They are helpless to do anything about this situation, but pray. Almost makes me smile. Helpless? Just prayer? We are never more powerful than when we are on our knees.
They're on their knees, they're beseeching God, they're trusting God. Or are they? Back to the prison. Verse 6. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers.
I have the feeling Peter is not. worried. You don't sleep. If your stomach is churning, if you're anxious, If you're worried about your own death, if you think they're going to mistreat you, you don't sleep. Peter's sound asleep.
No medication. Just fell asleep, may be laid on one of the shoulders of one of the soldiers. Maybe all of them were asleep. He's bound with chains, and the guards are in front of the door, and they were watching over the prison. Last time they put one of their own away, he rose from the dead.
So they're going to make sure this one does not.
So they have the guards set. It's an impossible situation. And these believers are praying. Praying for Peter. They can't go and release him.
They know that God can and they're praying.
So God does. Verse seven. Behold. I love scenes like this. Poof.
An angel. Suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying, Get up quickly. His chains fell off his hands. You know, angels can do that.
And the angel said to him, Gird yourself and put on your sandal. Get dressed. Put them on your shoes. He did so. Then he said, wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
Get her done. Get up, Peter. Let's get out of here. Verse 9. He went out, continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real.
You've been in a kind of a sleep like that, it's called Rim sleep. And kind of in a phase, you wake up and you start doing stuff and you. Maybe answering a phone or responding to a knock at the door. You're sort of in and out. He didn't know it was real.
He thought he was seeing a vision, of course.
Now understand, these people are praying. And Peter is being delivered.
So good.
So he went out and continued to follow and he Didn't know what was being done by the angel, that it was real, but he thought he was seeing a vision. Verse 10. when he had passed the first and second guard. They don't wake up. Angels can do that.
And they came to the iron gate, it's all locked. But it opened for them by itself. Angels can do that. And so they went out along one street, and immediately, poof, angel's gone. They do that.
They show, they do their thing, they're gone. Hey.
So Peter thinks, I'm glad I wore my sandals. Verse 11.
Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the Jewish people, all that they were expecting. And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary. Here we are, from the prison to the house of Mary.
Okay, that's where they're all gathered. They're all praying. Look at what happened. Verse thirteen: When he knocked at the door of the gate, A servant girl. The term used is a diminutive size, so it's a little girl.
Her name is Rose. It's rendered here Rhoda.
So Rose runs to the door. She goes to the gate. The gate's locked. And she recognizes, verse 14, Peter's voice. That's Peter.
14. Because of her joy, she didn't open the gate, isn't that like a kid? I'll be right back. Yeah.
So she runs down there to tell all these Praying saints. He's there.
Okay, hang on. And they said to her, verse 15, Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Nope, they say. You are out of your mind. I thought they were praying.
No? No, they weren't. They were doing religious things. They were going through religious motions. By the way, the word out of your mind is the term from which we get our word maniac.
You're nuts, Rose. You're young. But you need meds. She kept insisting. No, no, no, no, it's Peter, it's Peter.
They kept saying, well, it's his angel. Suggesting what? Death angel. He's died. The death angel has come.
Tell us. He's with the Lord. Don't grieve. It's his angel, but Peter. Yeah.
Keeps knocking on the gate. They've got it locked. They don't want anybody in. Certainly didn't want Peter in. He's dead.
Verse 16. Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and said, and answered a prayer. Nope, they were amazed. What are you doing here? Yeah.
Supposed to be in prison. Yeah.
What's wrong? Whatever they were doing was in prayer. They were doing what we do a lot of. But we just don't admit it. Peter was still imprisoned in their minds.
Zero faith. Absolutely, amazingly. Pathetic. They had the chance to storm the throne and to touch the one. Who alone can get him out of prison?
And when he pulls him out of prison. They're shocked. How's your prayer life? How's your faith? I have a feeling that most faces I look at right now have a worry list longer than a prayer list.
And I say to my own embarrassment, there are days in my life that's true of me too. Isn't it about time that change? Romans 15 can help that happen. We turn to the city of Corinth. where Paul is sitting with Tertius, his scribe, Paul pauses at this moment of toward the end of the letter.
And it decides to be very vulnerable. Yeah.
Very honest.
Now He begins. I urge you. Same word used here as Romans 12.1. I urge you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies. Except this isn't presenting your bodies.
I urge you, same word. It's like the term summons. It's a military term. I draft you. If he could take them by the shoulders, I would like to shake you awake.
I'd like to get you engaged. I urge you. Brothers and sisters. There's a need here. As I read through the verses we're going to be looking at, four things stand out to me.
And all four make prayer come to life. First is an awareness of the need. What's the need?
Well, he's mentioned it, but you may have forgotten verse 22 of this same chapter. Mm-hmm. I have often been prevented from coming to you.
So he has a need to get past the obstacles. Pray for that. I long to be with you, verse 23.
So he has a need for them to pray him to roam. Pray that I might be able to catch the ship. Pray that I might be freed to do so. Pray that I might live long enough to be with you. Pray that the obstacles will be removed.
Be aware of the needs. You cannot pray if you're not aware of a need.
So make yourself aware of needs. That means you're engaged in life. You're not removed. Your shades aren't drawn. Your door isn't locked.
You're in touch with people. And when you say, I will pray, you keep your word. It isn't a nice religious cliché to get them off your back. or to make them think you're their friend. Paul says, I urge you.
Some unnamed hindrances were holding him back. probably included people. People are usually hindrances to the will of God. Events can happen that break. the ability to fulfill what God would have us do.
And then we're in the process of praying ourselves through those obstacles. He tunnels through those mountains. He flies over them. He goes around them. Mountains are nothing to him, nothing.
They're everything to us, and if you're not careful, the obstacles take all of our attention. I've been in prayer meetings where the only thing that was done is we all share the obstacles. These are all the things that are not going right. These are all the things that are a problem. These are all the things we can't say.
Stop. Obstacles are the things, the treacherous things, that get our eyes off the gold. The goal is that God be engaged in doing what we cannot do, so there's an awareness of the need. By the way, this isn't just a Reading words on a page. Ha ha ha ha.
This isn't listening to a sermon about prayer. This is to engage you. I read a humorous story this past week about Yogi Berra when he was a catcher for the New York Yankees. Quite a character. They were in a World Series game with Milwaukee Braids.
Hank Aaron, the all-time home run hitter, was at the plate. Yogi, as you remember, was a catcher for the Yankees and They were playing in this series, this game in the series, and Yogi kept up the chatter to encourage his team and to distract everybody who came up to the plate. And when Hank Aaron showed up, he said, Hey, Hank. You're holding the bat wrong, supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark. Hank ignored him and whoop knocked the ball clear into left field.
Home run. As he circles, he kind of has a smile on his face. And when he comes back to home plate, he pauses and says to Yogi. I didn't come up here to read. Isn't that a great story?
Yeah.
You didn't show up today to read a few verses on prayer. Give me a break. You don't need another sermon. You've heard more than you can number. Need to do it.
Um You're listening to Insight for Living. We'll hear closing comments from Chuck Swindall in just a moment, so stick with us. Chuck titled today's message, Praying with Your Whole Heart. It's the fortieth message in a comprehensive study through the entire book of Romans. This series will conclude on December 16th, so while there's still time, we invite you to request the interactive Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbooks for this series on Romans.
These brand new workbooks come in two spiral-bound editions. You'll find all the details at insight.org/slash offer. Insight for Living aired its first broadcast in 1979. And over the decades, our world has cycled through a number of troubling seasons. But few have rivaled the last few years, which included a global pandemic, several heartbreaking wars, and spirited public discourse.
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Yeah.
I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his message: praying with your whole heart. Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Praying with Your Whole Heart, was copyrighted in 2008, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl Inc.
All rights are reserved worldwide. duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
