Prayer Join God Where He is Working

I hope to never forget the words of my friend Dick Scott. Dick was a business man in Rockaway Beach. He had real estate and a water company. Dick loved Jesus.

The big billboard by the post office downtown that says Jesus is Lord. That was put up by Dick Scott.

Dick went to be with Jesus several years ago.

He walked up to me one day and looked me in the eyes and he said I have been praying for you for 40 years...

I just didn’t know your name.

I was probably 35 at the time.

Dick was praying for Rockaway Beach before I was ever born. He shared with me that in His life time many preachers, as he would say it, have come through Rockaway Beach but not too many actually stuck around.

Think about Dick Scott praying for Rockaway Beach for 40 years. As you continue to invest your life in to Rockaway Beach, you too are an answer to Dick’s prayer for this community.

Let that sink in just a little bit.

(In my time here, If you would have told me that the church would one day exist in Rockaway Beach without much opposition, then I would have probably called you a liar and laughed at you. The hate towards the church was so strong. Look at downtown, I never imagined the church would ever own not one but 2 properties on the main street right across from the beautiful Lake Taneycomo)

God’s heart for the people and city of Rockaway Beach is evident.

God has heard the prayers of His people.

God’s people have been obedient to answer His call on behalf of the city.

Today we close out this series on prayer.

Eugene Peterson says this

The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it. So the task is not to get God to do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it.

We often view prayer in one of two ways

(Volunteer on stage)

Active

(Playing catch with my self) I initiate all the action. I give all the advice. I pray for want I want God to do. I look for ways for God to join me where I am at. I want God to be involved in what I want.

Prayer is constantly trying to get God to do what you want him to do.

Prayers is only concerned about your desires

You are in fully in control and you know what is best

The other view

Passive

(Someone throwing the ball at me but I am not engaging) I am being acted upon. God I will just take whatever you throw at me and I have no control over the results.

Prayer is short and not consistent because you are not in control so you just take what you get

Prayer is not personal

Where prayer actually happens

Middle

(God is tossing the ball and we are engaging with him) Where God moves the ball is where we move

We are involved in the action and God’s action causes us to participate in the results but we don’t control or define it.

Here we neither manipulate God nor are we manipulated by God. (Eugene Peterson)

Henry Blackaby describes it this way

Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.

Tyler Staton says, When we pray, we both participate in God’s action and benefit from God’s action. We join God.

Luke 1:26–27 HCSB

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

Mary is a young girl. She is most likely a teenager. Mary is in love. She is engaged to a man named Joseph.

She is probably counting down the days until she is married and can live happily ever after.

Luke 1:28–33 HCSB

28 And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.

On the one hand, this is great news for Mary. The Messiah that all the prophets have spoken about is coming! His name will be Jesus, which means Savior. He will be great and the Lord will give Him the throne of David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will have no end!

How exciting!

On the other hand, this news is tragic. Mary is engaged and a virgin. How in the world will she ever explain this to Joseph. She is pregnant with someone else’s but don’t worry it is the Savior of the World.

In the passive, Mary assumes that this has happened to her and she is looking towards being divorced from the man she loves.

When it comes to the law, the Levitical law says that you can be executed for adultery.

Praying like Monks, Living Like fools says,

Unless she winds up with a particularly understanding fiance and an unusually lenient judge, she’s a single mother on death row by the end of the week.

Mary’s response to this news

Luke 1:34 HCSB

34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”

Active says ok I have heard from the Lord and now I have to get busy with the plan.

Passive says Oh my woe is me.

Middle says, How can this be...

Angel replies to her

Luke 1:35–37 HCSB

35 The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

At this point in Mary’s life, things are messy. She has a lot to figure out and work through.

Look at her response

Luke 1:38 HCSB

38 “I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

She says I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done to me according to your word.

Mary’s prayer is one of surrender and participation.

It is a prayer in the middle.

Tyler Staton gives a beautiful picture to think about when it comes to the activity of God.

He says think about the current of the Mississippi River.

I personally remember standing over the Mississippi River and seeing the current flowing. Seeing the swirls that can take you under.

We can agree with the current, enter it, and swim freely along with the water’s pull.

We can also deny his activity, swim against the current, and fight it with the flailing of our arms and kicking of our feet.

Either way, we’re going with the river.

No one wins a fight against that kind of current. You can agree with it and cruise along assisted, or you can fight it and pushed along, exhausted. (Page 137. Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools)

Mary Prayed, I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done according to your word.

When she says May it be done according to your word, her everyday task are being transformed -doctor visits, healthy choices for the baby to grow, and pregnancy discomfort- into a participation of God’s redemptive story or plan.

My flesh will often fight this. I want this. I want what Mary had. I want my life to be a life of surrender and participation in God’s redemptive story.

I want to enter the river and cruise along the current rather than to fight it. I don’t want to kick and fight against God’s plans and desires. I want to ask the How question of God.

God How can this be?

I want to cooperate with God’s work in me.

I want the Spirit of God to work within me heart and desires to align with God’s plan for redemption of others.

Lord take my thoughts, my desires, my best made plans, all my emotions and my actions and let them align with you and you alone.

What do your prayers resemble? Are you starting to realize that active prayers are not possible because you are not in control.

As you start to realize that you are not in control, what do you feel? Does it bring anxiety?

Do your prayers resemble the opposite? Are you passive? Do you just keep taking life’s punches?

I challenge us church that our prayers are in the middle. We begin to see where God is working in our lives and we actively participate in what he is doing in us.