Salvation Made Plain – LESSON 4
The Thief’s Prayer
Now I want to analyze the saved thief’s prayer. When
I use this outline, I’m deeply moved when I talk about it.
Illustration
I had an uncle who is now in Heaven. He had been a Northwest
Mounted Policeman. He had married my father’s
only sister. His name was Harry Lee. To the day of his death he walked
like a Policeman – straight, tall, and dignified, but he seldom went to church.
My mother preached from about 1928 to1938. God gave my mother
revival and hundreds of
people were saved under her ministry. But my uncle and aunt
were almost her worst enemies. They
didn’t want to have anything to do with my mother’s religion – and they were
not backward in telling her so.
I don’t know what happened throughout the years, but in 1967
my aunt died, and I received a phone call from Uncle Harry. He said “Come on
up, I want to talk to you, and make arrangements for a funeral, and you are going
to take the funeral.”
That was shock #1, – because they never went to my
church. I don’t think they ever heard me preach,
and here is my uncle asking me to take the funeral. Actually we had two
funerals for my Aunt Minnie. They had moved from the farm into Regina, so one
funeral was held in Regina for their
Regina friends, and then we went back to the village of Pangman to bury Aunt
Minnie.
The funeral day came and this is
my outline that I used at that funeral. I took the words of the dying thief. My
big unsaved uncle was sitting in the front seat, and the
casket was in front of me, and the church was full.
In that congregation were people I had gone to school with,
and had never had the opportunity to preach to. They
were now grey-headed. Uncle Harry never took his eyes off of me. The whole time
I spoke, his eyes were riveted on me.
He was an old man. Two days
later he was in the hospital, and I went in to see him. When I went into the hospital, he said
“Lorne, faith is a wonderful thing – Shock
#2 for me. And then he said “Get out of
here – I’m going to cry.” He didn’t want anyone to see a big man like him cry! But then he said “I don’t mean it.”
He held my hand and he said “Your mother
preached to me a hundred times, but the other day when you
were preaching Minnie’s funeral service about “The Prayer Of The Dying Thief”– you got through to
me! My Uncle got saved, sitting
in the front pew at his wife’s funeral -- while I preached on “The Prayer of the
Dying Thief.”
Three years later I buried Uncle Harry, and I told the congregation
exactly what I’ve told you. You wonder that I thank the
Lord for this outline! I’ve got
something to praise God for. Here is a lesson in leading someone to the
knowledge of Salvation.
Let’s look at this thief’s prayer
1. The Prayer Was Sincere
The man was dying. When people face the issues of life and
death they mean business. And sincere
prayers have a way of getting through.
Illustration
My wife’s mother taught our little boy Jamie to say this
prayer at night:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to
keep
And if I die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to
take
He was about two years old. I used to tuck my children into
bed at night, and I would see to it that they would pray. Often
when they were small, I would let them be in bed while they were praying.
On this particular night, I was tucking Jamie into bed and I
said “Now you pray.” At that particular time, I had one eye closed and one
eye open, and I was watching him pray. He was looking at the ceiling, and his
eyes were wide open. My son was saying “Now I lay me,” and he was going about
90 miles an hour. I stopped him and said, “Jamie, don’t you close your eyes when
you pray?” He said “Oh Dad – I do when I really
pray.”
Children can teach you a lot! That little tyke knew the difference of saying a
prayer and really praying.
The Pharisees had said many prayers, and Saul of
Illustration
We were having united meetings in the city of Moose Jaw. I
was sitting up in the balcony, so I had opportunity to watch the preacher. I
don’t know if people watch me or not, and I
don’t know how I act, because I don’t have time to look at myself. But on this occasion, here is this 6’2” preacher
who is not even Pentecostal – he just
happened to be a good fiery Methodist.
I’m watching him from the balcony, and that big fellow got so
anointed he was kicking both feet behind him. There were times that I thought he had both feet off
the ground at once. I know he didn’t – but he was
really kicking. As I am looking down on him, this is what he shouted out to the
congregation:
“People, if you will mean business with God
–
God is going to mean business
with you.”
That was a masterpiece, and I can
still see his feet a-flying as he challenged those people -- “If you
will mean business with God, God is going to
mean business with you.” That’s a good thing to tell a sinner, and
that’s a good thing to tell a Saint. The Lord says
“if you seek me with
all your heart, you will find me.” We
start on this premise – his prayer was sincere.
2. It Was a Prayer of Faith
Jesus was dying just like the thief was
dying – and yet this thief acknowledged that Jesus was coming into His Kingdom.
You can see faith in that acknowledgement.
James 1: 5-7
(5) If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
(6) But let him ask
in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
(7) For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Have you ever pulled verse 7 out of a promise box? – “that he shall not receive any thing of the Lord.” That’s a Promise.
It’s as much a Promise as any other verse in the Bible. So when it comes to
prayer – the prayer that gets through is the prayer
of faith.
3. The Prayer Was Brief
Long prayers are not always necessary. I want to give you a couple more examples of brief
prayers in the Bible. I think that some people should never be called upon to
pray in public – because when they pray in public, they tell God all they know.
Have you ever noticed that? They have
forgotten that He knows more than they do.
And when they are praying, they pray all over the world. Brief prayers
get through. We learn that from these stories.
Matthew 8: 25 They are in a storm at sea.
(25) And his
disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us:
Just three
words – Lord, save
us. That prayer got through.
Matthew 15: 25
It is the story of the Syrophenician woman who came to Jesus.
(25) Then came she
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
She went away with everything she had wanted – by uttering
just three words – “Lord, help me.”
I think of some of those experiences, - when I was a boy, - that come out when I read things like
this.
Illustration
I was raised in a home where there were a lot of prayer
sessions. Out on the farm during the winter, my Mom and Dad would have a couple
working for them. And for some reason, preachers
would migrate to our home. It was nothing to have two or three staying
with us. And so at night, when we were tired after
being at school all day, we would get down on our knees and pray.
A dear brother, who is now in Heaven, had this habit of
praying long, long prayers. We had one
of those old clocks that would strike out the hour, and it would be maybe nine
or ten o’clock at night. We children would be half asleep, and this man would
be only half-way through his prayer. The clock would start
chiming 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. He would wait until the clock was finished chiming,
and then resume his praying.
One night he prayed so long that we three boys weren’t paying
any attention. I don’t know
what we were doing, but in the middle of his prayer, he got a newspaper, he
rolled it up, and he went over to each of us and hit us on the head – and then
he went on and prayed for another half hour.
I don’t know if that
kind of praying is necessary or not. When it comes to the Scriptures – brief
prayers can get through. And maybe some of the briefest
prayers you have ever made are the best
prayers you have ever made. Prayer is the expression of your heart to God. And that’s exactly
what this thief did. It was a brief prayer.
4. It Was a Positive Prayer
He said “Lord, remember.” And positive prayers are the kind of prayers that get
through.
5. The Prayer Was Personal
“Lord, remember
me.” We are going to read the instructions Jesus
gave regarding prayer, found in Matthew 6.
Verses 1 to 4
talk about giving.
Then, verses 5
to 15 talk about praying. I find this interesting – my prayer and
my giving will go together.
Then in verses
16-18, the subject is fasting.
Giving,
then praying,
then fasting.
And then verses
19-24 talk about my attitude regarding possessions.
Verses 25-34
talk about anxiety or worry.
How I fast and pray and give, will
determine what I think about possessions.
Worry is going to be the result of how I look at possessions.
It
all goes together.
Let’s look at
the subject of prayer
Matthew 6: 5-7
(5) And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen of men. Verily I
say unto you, they have their reward.
(6) But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to
thy Father which is in secret; and thy
Father which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly.
(7) But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Jesus teaches
us here that there are three things to avoid when you pray. When you pray, don’t be a hypocrite. That’s
what the Pharisees were. They loved to be heard of men.
They stood and prayed their long prayers – but their prayers never left
the room, because all they wanted was for men to hear them pray.
If you want men to hear you pray – when men
have heard you pray, that’s the end of
it. Don’t expect any reward for that kind of praying. The prayer that gets through is
the prayer that is directed to God alone.
It says you
should pray in your closet. I understand that to mean – every time I pray I should be conscious not of your presence,
or the presence of other people –
but of the presence of God. And
I am addressing God
when I pray.
And the other
thing – don’t be a heathen when you pray. He
describes a heathen as one who repeats his prayer over and over. And all it is, is a repetition of a prayer. You have to be careful that
you don’t get into that rut.
Illustration
I read
someplace, long ago, about a dear old brother who always attended the prayer meeting and he always prayed. Well thank God for people like
that – but the problem with this brother was, that he always said the same thing at the end of his prayer. He got down to the end of
his prayer and he would say (and he had said it for twenty years) “Lord, if
there be any cobwebs in my life – please Lord, remove the cobwebs.”
This fellow who
had heard it over and over again, was at the prayer meeting, and when the
fellow said “If there be any cobwebs in my life” – the other fellow interrupted
and said “Don’t do
it, don’t do
it – kill the spider!”
I want to tell
you – there are times when some spiders ought to be killed regarding our praying.
We just get into ruts. They are ruts and they never get through.
6. The Prayer Was Answered
The prayer of the dying thief was answered. The Lord said “Today shalt
thou be with me in
7. The Lesson Of The Thief
Anyone can
be saved.
Romans 10: 13
(13) For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
I conclude this
section by saying: I did not say that everyone will be
saved. I said – anyone may be
saved. And may I say this for your encouragement: David is an Old Testament
character who is noted for his sin, and
I believe he is in Heaven – don’t you? And if David made it – maybe there is hope for me!
The thief on
the cross is saved! He is with the
Lord. And if he is with the Lord – then I guess there is hope for the rest of us. So
these lessons are written for our learning.
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Recap: The Thief’s Prayer |
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The prayer
was sincere.
Sincere prayers have a way of getting through. If you mean business with God, God is going to mean business with you. |
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It was a
prayer of faith.
He acknowledged Jesus to be King. The prayer
that gets through is a prayer of faith. |
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The prayer
was brief.
Long prayers are not always necessary. Brief prayers get through. |
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It was a positive prayer. “Lord, remember” It was a direct request. Positive
prayers are the kind of prayers that get through. |
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The prayer
was personal.
“Lord, remember me.” He directed his prayer to God. |
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His prayer
was answered.
Salvation is being with the Savior. Jesus said He would be with Him that very day
in Paradise. . |
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The Lesson is
that anyone can be saved. |