Losing Heart; Finding Hope

Things will be ok… We’ll find our keys… Our phone will be where we left it (or we’ll get a new one!)… The TV remote will turn up… There’s always another pen…

But… What about those other times?

What about when the things in our lives… the struggles we face… the discouragements… begin to make us lose heart?

What about those times when we are losing confidence in ourselves… in our abilities… in our family and friends?

What do we do when when we are so beat down that we’re finding it hard to even believe that things will take a turn for the good?

What about those times when we are experiencing one defeat after another? When we are feeling overwhelmed… beaten down… discouraged?

What about those times when we are looking around at our church and wondering “when is it ever going to grow”?

You know those times! We’ve all experienced them… (We might even be experiencing them now!)

What do we do in those times when it all seems pointless?

You know there is an answer, right?!

(Whew! I was worried for a second there!)

Yes! We find the answer in Christ.

But… Did you know that answer is given to us by an unexpected source?

You see, We’d expect Jesus Himself to give us the answer, but it actually comes through Luke!

Luke 18:1 NIV

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Luke knows the struggle… he understands… and he wants to speak to us about it…

He is talking specifically to Christians… It’s as if he can see the struggles we are currently experiencing… in America… in our church… in our families.... and he wants us to know: “I understand. Life isn’t easy.”

Troubles blindside us… Struggles threaten to sufficate what hope we have… It’s easy to lose heart…

But…

HOPE IS NOT LOST!!!!

John 16:33 (NIV)

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus offers Hope!

Luke shares with us the secret to not losing heart.

Look at Luke.

In Luke 17:20-36, Jesus takes some time with His disciples… He knows He is going to die… and that it is going to hurt them… so He tries to prepare them:

“Guys, there are some tough times coming… I’m going to return and when I do, things are going to be amazing! But… before I do… life’s going to get rough. People are going to hate me… they’re going to mistreat me… they’re going to mistreat you because of me… They’re going to hate God… They’re going to do whatever they want… Whatever they please… Whatever feels good to them… It’s not going to be easy!”

Then Luke tells us that Jesus gives them the secret to not losing heart.

You see… the answer is so uncomplicated… It’s so simple… that it’s easy for us to miss.

Complicated problems don’t always require complicated solutions.

Luke 18:1 NIV

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Prayer is the secret!

You may be here today… You may be struggling… You may be discouraged… lost… lacking Hope… losing heart… And that’s OK!!!!

Don’t give up! Pray!

Look at:

Luke 18:2–8 NIV

2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Persistent, faithful prayer pays off!

God listens to a Faithful heart.

James 5:16 (NIV)

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

There’s a story in Acts 27 that illustrates this perfectly.

— Paul… as a prisoner… is being taken to Rome.

The journey starts out fairly uneventful… They sailed from Adramytium to Sidon… then tp Cypress… then to Myra… then things began to change…

When they left Cypress, Luke says they had difficulty… the journey began getting more difficult… soon the wind began blowing them off course… When they made it to Fair Haven, after losing a lot of time, Luke tells us that the “sailing had already become dangerous”… and as a result, Paul advises them to not continue…

He tells them “if we keep going it is going to be disastrous”… the very foundations on which we are standing — the ship and its cargo — will be lost…

Acts 27:10 NIV

10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

Paul was one of those voices that we all hear… You know what I’m talking about… the voices that try to warn us… that tell us “that’s dangerous, don’t go that way”… But… we don’t listen to them…

This reminds me a lot of what’s going on in our world today…

Paul warned them… But they didn’t listen…

Acts 27:11–12 NIV

11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

They chose worldly wisdom over Godly wisdom.

— They rejected and refused to listen to God’s Word and allowed the godless majority influence them.

They set their own course!

How often do we do that?!?!

— Worldly wisdom will fool us into thinking things are ok! That we are on the right course!

Listen to what happens next…

At first, things are ok… A gentle wind kicks up, it pushes them along… it was “smooth sailing”.

In their eyes… in that moment… Paul was a fool!

But…

Acts 27:14–15 NIV

14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.

What began as a nice breeze… as smooth sailing… as something leading to greater opportunity… became a storm!

It swept down on them quickly and before they knew it, things were out of control!

Here’s the kicker… They didn’t see it coming!

One minute they’re sailing along… loving life… convinced that they could reject Paul’s warning without any consequences (after all, how foolish does he look now?)… The next…

They’re caught… They’re in deep… They’ve lost control… They’ve lowered the sails… given up… and find themselves driven deeper and deeper into the storm!

By verse 18, They’ve lost all their good senses… and are throwing things overboard!

And the storm shows no signs of ending…

The sun hasn’t shone on them in so long they can hardly remember what it felt like… the storm hasn’t let up a bit… things just keep getting worse!

Acts 27:20 NIV

20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

They gave up!

They lost heart!

BUT…

When all hope seemed lost… when it seemed like it was over… like there was no way out… they were done… there was a man…

A man who in the middle of a raging storm… was not fearful… had not given up… who was in the belly of the ship on his knees.

This man… when all hope seemed lost… committed himself to prayer.

Look at Acts 27:21-24

Acts 27:21–24 NIV

21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’

Let me tell you: “The storms of this life are NOT going to give you warning!”

If you don’t know where to turn… you will be lost!

They were at a point… we are at a point in this church… in this nation… in our lives… our jobs… our families… where things seem lost… there seems like there is no way out… no Hope…

Let me tell you: PRAYER IS NOT AN OPTION!

We are living in a time when it is easy to get distracted… to lose heart…

We CANNOT afford to treat prayer as an option!

The storm is raging, and we are not immune to it!

Like Paul… we’re on the ship with everyone else… we’re sailing… in the wrong direction!

We’ve charted our own course… we’ve sailed wherever life has taken us… and we’re lost!

Confusion has set in and things seem to be falling to pieces.

It is time for us to be in the belly of the ship… on our knees … begging for the lives of the people who are with us!

We’ve got to get ahold of God before the ship sinks!

Paul prayed… and He heard from God!

— it gave him Hope

— it gave him courage

— it gave him direction

— it gave him the ear of those around him

— it enabled him to encourage those who had lost heart!

— it resulted in a harvest!

But most of all… It got him where God needed him to be.

The secret to not losing heart is prayer.

When we pray… things that in the natural shouldn’t happen… happen.

When we pray… the odds are ALWAYS in our favor!

When we pray… God takes the most impossible circumstances and turns them for our good and His glory!

Paul knew that when he prayed… he was praying to a God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or even imagine!

Do we?

Ephesians 3:20 NIV

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

Most of us have heard… and even quoted… this verse… but… Do we understand it?

Look at the context…

These words were written at the end of a prayer for a group of people in Ephesus.. who were in danger of losing heart.

In verse 13, just before he prays, Paul writes:

Ephesians 3:13 ESV

13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

The Christians in Ephesus were in danger of losing heart because of their sufferings… Paul wants to encourage them… Because…

When we lose heart… we lose stamina… we lose morale… and sooner or later we get to the point that we say: “What’s the use? Why keep trying?” and we give up.

We become like those men on that ship…

Is that us today? Have we given up?

Are we ready to throw in the towel and just curl up in a hole somewhere… hoping life will just go ahead and pass us by?

Paul — and Luke — are telling us: “Don’t give up! Don’t lose heart!”

We serve a God who is ABLE.

When I am not… He IS.

When I can’t … He CAN.

Things that overwhelm me… never overwhelm Him.

He is all powerful and all knowing… He is everywhere… ALL THE TIME!

God is able because … He IS NOT idle!

God never sleeps… never takes a vacation… never leaves us… God is not dead!

Scripture tells us that “in ALL things God works for the good of those who [put their faith in ] Him.”

Whatever you are facing… Whatever the storm… you don’t have to lose heart… because God is ABLE!

He is able to heal… to save… to provide… to deliver… to direct… to protect....

Ask Abraham… Ask Daniel… Ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…

God is ABLE!

We can trust Him because…

He is able to do immeasurably more…

I love this verse because Paul creates a word here…

The word translated “immeasurably more” is a combination of three words in Greek…

It means “infinitely more than”… in other words… “infinitely above and beyond ALL human measurment. To an inexpressible extent.”

God’s ability is off the charts!

It can’t be measured… There is no limit to what God can do!

God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or even imagine!

Nothing is impossible for Him… and here’s the best part… He knows your heart!

You know what that means?

That means that we can ask Him AND KNOW that He can do it!

That means that we need to stop praying small and PRAY BIG!!!!

Matthew says that God knows the things that we hold dear to our hearts…

He knows those hopes… those desires… those concerns that are going on in our minds that we don’t even know how to verbalize…

How often do we “dream big”, but ask small?

(or never ask at all)

James says that “we do not have because we do not ask.”

Let me tell you: God is ABLE! And we CANNOT out imagine God!

His plans are bigger than ours!

And He gives according to… What?

His Power.

God doesn’t give according to the world’s power… ideas… concepts… formulas… or plans…

He doesn’t do things by our power or might…

He does it according to His!

And His power never needs to be recharged… it never needs to be “jump-started”… It is never ending!

We serve a God who’s power enable Him

Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

And guess what?

His power is at work in us!

Chris Tomlin wrote a song “Same Power” says it well:

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave

The same power that commands the dead to wake

Lives in us, lives in us

The same power that moves mountains when He speaks

The same power that can calm a raging sea

Lives in us, lives in us

He lives in us, lives in us

If we are Christian… we have God’s power in us… Is it at work in us?!?

Prayer activates God’a power in our lives.

Prayer is the secret to not losing heart.

Our world naturally lends itself tp our losing heart, because it points us to inconsistent, temporary things.

We need to develop a consistent effective prayer life NOW!

I’m not talking about those little personal prayers for our daily decisions and family needs…

I’m talking about a prayer life that believes big… That trusts big… That dreams big… and that PRAYS BIG!!!

Our church needs it…

Our community needs it…

Our families need it…

(series intro. and invitation to fast)

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