Unfinished Prayers
Text: I Peter 3:7
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Explain what is meant by an "unfinished prayer" — why a prayer without the matching human action is incomplete.
- Identify I Peter 3:7 as the key text and explain how it grounds the principle of partnership between prayer and action.
- Name at least five of the eleven unfinished prayers listed and state what action is required to complete each one.
- Explain why the principle does not reduce prayer to mere effort — why prayer is still necessary even when action is required.
- Identify one or two prayers in their own life that have been left "unfinished" and commit to completing them.
Thesis
Prayer is not the whole of the Christian's responsibility to the thing prayed for. Prayer opens the transaction; action completes it. The person who prays for the sick and does not visit them; who prays for the gospel to spread and does not share it; who prays for the unity of the church and does nothing to produce it — has prayed only half a prayer. We have a part in answering some of our prayers.
Burden
This was the last sermon in this outline series. It was delivered at Grace Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, on January 6, 1946. The editorial note in the outline records this fact. The author chose to preach, in his final sermon, about the gap between what Christians ask for and what they are willing to do. The burden is not to minimize prayer but to complete it — to press the hearer toward the understanding that prayer and action are partners, not alternatives.
Introduction
"You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered" (I Pet. 3:7). The text locates a condition for effective prayer in the way the husband conducts himself — not in the posture of his knees or the length of his words, but in the quality of his daily conduct. Prayer is not an isolated act; it is connected to the life that surrounds it. A prayer prayed against the grain of one's own conduct is already hindered.
"Man is prone to leave undone tasks." The outline opens with an observation about human nature before the sermon opens with theology. Dorcas (Acts 9:36-40), the disciple full of good works and deeds of charity, may have left some unfinished garment. The artist or sculptor has represented the life of man with an unfinished piece of stone. The unfinished thing is the human condition — and unfinished prayers are the specific form of incompleteness this sermon addresses.
I. New Testament Teaching About Prayer
Before listing the unfinished prayers, the outline establishes that prayer is genuinely required. This is not a sermon that dismisses prayer in favor of works — it is a sermon that takes prayer seriously enough to ask what completing a prayer looks like.
"Pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17). Prayer is not a crisis measure; it is a constant orientation. The person who prays only in emergency has misunderstood both the nature of prayer and the nature of life.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6). Everything is appropriate subject matter for prayer. The scope is total; no area of life is outside the conversation with God.
"Pray for one another" (James 5:16; II Thess. 1:11; Heb. 13:18). Prayer is communal as well as individual. The church that prays for its members, for its preacher, for its mission, is doing something real — and the members who receive those prayers are not passive recipients.
II. Some Unfinished Prayers
Here is the list the builds — eleven prayers that require human action to be complete:
Pray for health; must obey the laws of health. The person who prays for health while continuing to violate the physical principles that maintain it has asked God to override the consequences of their own choices. Prayer is not a bypass around physical reality. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:19-20); caring for it is part of the stewardship prayer assumes.
Pray for the sick; must help them get well. "Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him" (James 5:14) — but James also says to confess sins and pray for one another (v. 16). Prayer for the sick that does not include visiting, providing, accompanying is a prayer that stays at a distance from its own object.
Pray for the bereaved; comfort them. The prayer for those who grieve is real; but comfort that consists only of prayer — that does not show up, sit with, speak to, provide for — has not reached the bereaved. Paul calls the God "who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction" (II Cor. 1:4). The comfort God gives is passed through people.
Pray for success in business; must conform to economic principles. The person who prays for business success while operating dishonestly, lazily, or foolishly has asked God to produce what they are working against. Prayer for success assumes the effort that makes success possible.
Pray for wisdom; must study. "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God" (James 1:5). This is one of the clearest prayer promises in the New Testament. But wisdom is not downloaded through prayer into an empty mind; it is developed through study, reflection, and the application of what has been learned. The prayer opens the channel; the study fills it.
Pray for spiritual growth; must take spiritual food and exercise. "Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow" (I Pet. 2:2). Spiritual growth is not automatic for the person who prays without feeding on the word, exercising in service, and practicing the disciplines of the Christian life. The prayer for growth and the neglect of the means of growth are contradictory.
Pray for the salvation of sinners; must preach the gospel to them. "How will they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:14). Every prayer for a lost person is incomplete without the action of going. The person who prays for a family member's conversion without speaking to them about Christ has asked God to do alone what God has appointed to be done through people.
Pray for world peace; must work for it. Blessed are the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9). The prayer for peace and the passive observance of conditions that produce conflict are not compatible. The Christian who prays for peace must also be at peace with all people (Rom. 12:18) and must extend the reconciliation that the gospel makes possible.
Pray for unity of the church; must work for the unity of the church. "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). Unity is to be kept — it requires active effort. The prayer for unity that does not extend to personal reconciliation with the brother you have not spoken to, to the forbearance that Ephesians 4:2 requires, to the willingness to put aside personal preferences for the sake of the body, is a prayer that contradicts itself.
Pray for enemies; must work and do good to our enemies. "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5:44). The prayer for enemies is commanded — but it is followed immediately by "do good to those who hate you" (Luke 6:27). Prayer without goodwill; goodwill without action: neither completes the prayer.
Pray for the church to fill its mission; must be a faithful member of it. The prayer for the church's effectiveness is a prayer that every member of the church must answer by the quality of their participation. The member who prays for the church's growth and then stays home from the assembly, withholds their service, and lives as though the church has no claim on their time is praying against their own conduct.
Conclusion
"We have a part in answering some of our prayers; if we fail to do our part the prayer is unfinished." This is the sermon's summary. Prayer is not an alternative to action; it is prayer's partner. The God who answers prayer answers it through people — including the person praying. The rain and snow do not return to the sky without watering the earth; neither does the prayer return from God without equipping the one who prayed it to participate in the answer.
This was the last sermon in this outline series. He chose, at the end, to preach about the gap between what we ask for and what we do. It is the right word for the end of a life of ministry — and it is the right word for every person who has ever prayed for something and then waited for God to do what God has appointed them to do together with him.
Invitation
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me" (Ps. 50:15). Call. That is prayer. And then honor — that is action. The two belong together.
You have not exhausted your prayer life by finishing this sermon. You have, perhaps, identified some prayers that have been left at the asking stage. Complete them. Begin with the one the gospel makes possible: call on the name of the Lord. Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Repent. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). And then spend the rest of your life completing prayers — including this one — through the action of faithful membership in the body that prays them.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindered | enkoptesthai | to cut in, to interrupt | to cut in, to interrupt | used in the NT for Paul's hindered travel plans (Rom. 15:22; I Thess. 2:18); here applied to prayer: the husband's failure to live rightly with his wife cuts into the channel of prayer, interrupts it; the point is that prayer is embedded in the whole of life and cannot be isolated from the conduct that surrounds it. | I Pet. 3:7 |
| Without ceasing | adialeiptōs | unceasingly, without intermission | unceasingly, without intermission | not that every conscious moment must be spent in formal prayer but that the orientation toward God is constant; the word is used for the persistent, unbroken quality of the posture, not the duration of individual acts. | I Thess. 5:17 |
| Supplication | deēsis | a specific request arising from a specific need | a specific request arising from a specific need | distinct from general prayer (proseuchē) in that it targets a particular deficit; the prayer that is completed by action begins with the specific awareness of a need and moves toward the specific action that addresses it. | Phil. 4:6 |
| Endeavoring | spoudazontes | making every effort, doing eagerly | making every effort, doing eagerly | the word implies urgency and exertion; unity is not produced by passivity; it requires the active effort of people who are committed to keeping it; the prayer for unity that is not backed by this effort is the unfinished prayer the is describing. | Eph. 4:3 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Prayers hindered by conduct — text | Text | I Pet. 3:7 |
| Pray without ceasing | I | I Thess. 5:17 |
| Pray about everything with thanksgiving | I | Phil. 4:6 |
| Pray for one another | I | James 5:16; II Thess. 1:11; Heb. 13:18 |
| Pray for wisdom; must study | II.5 | James 1:5 |
| Spiritual growth requires the word | II.6 | I Pet. 2:2 |
| "How will they hear without a preacher?" | II.7 | Rom. 10:14 |
| Blessed are the peacemakers | II.8 | Matt. 5:9 |
| Unity of the Spirit — must keep it actively | II.9 | Eph. 4:3 |
| Pray for enemies and do good to them | II.10 | Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27 |
| Body is a temple — health stewardship | II.1 | I Cor. 6:19-20 |
| Baptism for remission — completing the gospel prayer | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 123. Primary text: I Peter 3:7 (stated by Boles). Editor's Note preserved: "This was the last Sermon Brother Boles preached. It was delivered at Grace Avenue, Nashville Tenn., Jan 6, 1946." OCR corrections: "«.rtist" → "artist"; "mu~t pr eac h" → "must preach"; "mu ; t stud y" → "must study." Doctrinal audit: prayer is genuinely required (I Thess. 5:17; Phil. 4:6) and not minimized; the principle is that prayer and action are partners, not alternatives; each of the eleven unfinished prayers completed with the specific action required; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
