Prayer: Thorn in Flesh

Prayer (Week 3) (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

Intro:

- Any more announcements:

o Sitting in choir loft

o Leadership Apps (Due Feb 28th 11:59pm)

o World Mission Offering Envelops (bringing it back the following week)

§ Pray about it, what does the Lord want YOU to give?

- Dismissal to other rooms: Apologetics (Room 230), Titus (240), Prayer (stay in here)

- For those who don’t know me, I’m Zach Wells one of our college residents here with One27

We have been walking through a series on prayer the last 2 weeks and today we will be jumping into 2 Corinthians Chapter 12

- Last week Sierra led us through an earlier chapter in 2nd Corinthians and landing with this idea that…

o Because of God’s character, He gives us comfort in suffering and that propels us to be a witness in an unbelieving world

- This week we are going to jump into a very similar idea as last week, but hone in on the idea of how to stay content in difficulty, but more so how to rejoice even in our sufferings.

Pray:

Story to connect:

- Movie that didn’t the way that I wanted, but the creator the director had a vision and a purpose in their choices.

-

Read:

- Starting in 2 Corinthians Chapter 12 verse 7: “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Apply:

- Our passage today is one of those classic texts lifted up and presented to us when we are suffering a trial or temptation. But what does the text actually say? Perhaps the first thing that stands out is the simple lesson that Paul prayed multiple times about the same problem (2 Corinthians 12:8). Sometimes we look at a spiritual giant such as Paul and don’t see him repeatedly going to the Lord about the same problem—but that’s exactly what he did. If you find yourself facing something that seems insurmountable, and you’ve already prayed about it, don’t be afraid to pray about it again. And don’t be surprised if when you pray the answer isn’t what you were expecting. Paul prayed for relief, but the answer he got was to glorify God through a situation that was not going to go away.

o Continue to pray for the same thing multiple times to gain wisdom, peace, reassurance, guidance, and boldness to do what God may be calling you into.

o God’s answers are often broken up into 3 categories:

§ “Yes” ~ often an invitation for you to go (Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20)

§ “No” ~ God’s protecting hand (in our passage today, and before Jesus suffered and died on the cross, He pleaded to His Father to deliver Him from the suffering Mark 14:32-42)

§ “Wait” ~ There’s often pruning in the “waiting” were God is transforming you more into the image of Jesus (Psalm 27:14)

o It’s important to recognize that God delights to hear our requests and pleas to Him.

§ He’s not annoyed when you come and pray about “that thing” again

§ Why would the scriptures say in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you)

Outro:

Pray:

Temptation, Endurance, Answered Prayer

Sometimes God’s answers are unexpected, but even when his answer is no, there is purpose behind it.

Consider times you have prayed fervently for something and did not receive the desired outcome. Is God at work building something in your character?

What would it look like to rest in his grace in your weakness or affliction?

1. Example of a prayer prayed that wasn’t answered in the way you thought it would be. (Intern wrecking car)

2. Our passage today is one of those classic texts lifted up and presented to us when we are suffering a trial or temptation. But what does the text actually say? Perhaps the first thing that stands out is the simple lesson that Paul prayed multiple times about the same problem (2 Corinthians 12:8). Sometimes we look at a spiritual giant such as Paul and don’t see him repeatedly going to the Lord about the same problem—but that’s exactly what he did. If you find yourself facing something that seems insurmountable, and you’ve already prayed about it, don’t be afraid to pray about it again. And don’t be surprised if when you pray the answer isn’t what you were expecting. Paul prayed for relief, but the answer he got was to glorify God through a situation that was not going to go away.

3. When we read a passage like this, where Paul is very transparent, it can be easy to go down a rabbit hole and try to figure out what the thorn was. But that isn’t the point of this passage. Paul prays for something to be taken away, and the result of his prayer is that the problem remains and Paul grows in humility (vv. 7–8). Paul learns through his prayer that he is a man with weaknesses, and that Christ’s grace shows up when we are weak (v. 9).

4. Sometimes we pray because we’re grateful. Sometimes we pray for wisdom. Sometimes we pray because we’re suffering. Regardless of the motivation for our prayers, it’s important to realize that God can answer in any way he chooses, and sometimes the answers can be very unpleasant or uncomfortable. Here is Paul afflicted by the messenger from Satan (v. 7), and his repetitious plea to have it taken away is met with an assurance from God that when he is suffering God’s grace is enough to see him through. But, alas, in that positive response is a negative answer: no, the affliction will not be removed. Studying the prayers of Paul are a helpful reminder that even when we pray, things may not “get better” from an earthly perspective.

In this biographical prayer, we learn an important lesson about the spiritual life: strength comes through weakness. It is much like a Chinese Finger Trap. It is constructed simply of woven paper, but when our fingers are inside it, the harder we pull, the tighter the trap becomes. The key to letting our fingers escape the trap isn’t to struggle but to relax. God’s grace often works like that: we relax and stop fighting, and his grace sets us free.