Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Linger in the Tent

Bryan Schneider · March 2, 2023

Exodus 33:11

sharonrpc.org/sermons/linger-in-the-tent

Summary

Joshua's lingering at the tabernacle after Moses leaves supplies a simple call to ministers and believers: do not stop praying.
Ministry's constant pressure to do more must not displace prayer, because work done without the Lord is labor in vain.
Prayer is a duty even when desire and emotion lag; disciplined obedience can lead the affections rather than waiting for them.
Jesus himself withdrew early to solitary places to pray, giving his servants a pattern of communion with the Father.
Private prayer maintains love for Christ and becomes a place of confession, worship, gospel remembrance, dependence, and comfort.
Church leaders serve people best by bringing them before the King in prayer alongside devotion to the ministry of the Word.
Prayer renews evangelistic zeal and seeks both the expansion of God's kingdom of grace and the coming of his kingdom of glory.

What regular task or distraction most often pushes private prayer out of my day?
Do I wait to feel like praying, or do I treat prayer as a loving duty commanded by God?
What did Jesus' pattern of withdrawing to pray show about communion with the Father?
How does prayer expose the illusion that ministry depends chiefly on my effort?
Am I bringing the actual people and troubles of the church before God's throne of grace?
How do confession, thanksgiving, and gospel remembrance reshape a discouraged heart in prayer?
What practical change would help me linger with God rather than rush back to work?

Prayer: Offering desires to God in Christ's name by the Spirit, with confession of sin and thanksgiving for mercy.
Prayer closet: A private place and practice of focused communion with God away from distracting work and entertainment.
Means of grace: God-appointed practices through which he nourishes his people; the sermon emphasizes prayer alongside the Word.
Dependence: Acknowledging in prayer that God, not ministerial busyness or skill, builds the church and supplies every need.
First love: Living devotion to Jesus Christ that must not be displaced by activity, even precise doctrinal or church work.
Kingdom of grace and glory: God's saving reign advancing now and its perfected fulfillment for which believers pray.