Strange Prayers

The Works of John Wesley, Volumes 1–4 Journal: From February 1, 1738, to August 12, 1738

I think it was about five this morning, that I opened my Testament on those words, Τα μεγιστα ημιν και τιμια επαγγελματα δεδωρηται, ινα γενησθε θειας κοινωνοι Φυσεως. “There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Pet. 1:4.) Just as I went out, I opened it again on those words, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul’s. The anthem was, “Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear nay voice. O let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.”

14. In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

15. I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there, what I now first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the enemy suggested,” This cannot be faith; for where is thy joy? “Then was I taught, that peace and victory over sin are essential to faith in the Captain of our salvation: But that, as to the transports of joy that usually attend the beginning of it, especially in those who have mourned deeply, God sometimes giveth, sometimes with holdeth them, according to the counsels of his own will.

These are the words of John Wesley, describing the moment that he became a fully devoted follower of Jesus, and the immediate impact that this moment had on his life.

For John, a heart that was strangely warmed was the one thing that changed everything for his life and ministry to this world forever. It was the catalyst that allowed him to truly become the person that God had called him to be. It moved him into and through a life of complete devotion to Jesus and the people of England.

For the next four weeks we will be looking at the idea of Stewardship through the lens of John Wesley’s heart that was strangely warmed and his understanding of how God’s grace works in our lives.

What we will find is that the way that way God moves in this world is deeply intertwined with the way we live and respond to God’s gracious gifts to us.

Stewardship is the act of living in this world that recognizes that we serve God first, trusting that doing so will insure that our own needs are met. Which is a really hard thing to do, and is certainly not a natural thing for us to do. It requires something supernatural. Like a heart that is strangely warmed, that allows us to live in strange ways.

Today we are going to turn in scripture to the early part of Israel’s history to see how our prayers can be acts of stewardship that have deep impact both now and forevermore.

Our story begins with a young woman named Hannah who lived during the time of the Judges. Now this was a very tumultuous time in Israel’s history. Power was really decentralized, there was no king, and the confederation of tribes was pretty much just ruled over by people called Judges and an often corrupt priesthood.

Hannah’s life was not going the way she had hoped. She was married, but had been thus far unable to have children. So she did what any sensible ancient Israelite woman would do… She went to the the house of the Lord to pray and to ask God for a child.

When she was there she met a priest named Eli who promised her that God heard her prayers and would grant them.

In time, Hannah bore a son, and she named him Samuel. And when he was weaned she brought him back to Eli.

1 Samuel 1:26–28 NRSV

And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” She left him there for the Lord.

You see when Hannah prayed, she knew that if the Lord answered her prayers for a child that there would be a purpose for it. So she made a commitment to give Samuel over to the service of God. And so she made good on that commitment, and brought Samuel to work in the house of the Lord, to be brought up under a priest and to serve God.

Hannah knew that whatever life she could give her son was nothing compared to the plans that God had for him. And so she offered back to God that which belonged to God — her one and only son. And in doing so she offered another prayer.

1 Samuel 2:1–9 NRSV

Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. “There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail.

Hannah’s prayer, while strange to us on the surface is a refrain about the ultimate triumph of God over all of the struggles that everyday human beings face.

For Hannah, her status as a barren woman had made her life really difficult. She was ostracized and made fun of. She was looked down upon by society. But God had heard her prayers and turned her fate upside down.

And this is really the nature of God’s activity in our world. God can and will take that which the world uses to label us as useless, less than, or deserving of public disgrace and use it for his glory.

And I’ll just speak for myself, and maybe for some of all of you here when I say that God can turn messes around today too. This isn’t something that ended back in the days of Hannah.

But what we see in Hannah’s story is the grace of God at work, not only in her life, but in the life of her son Samuel and indeed the entire story of Israel.

Hannah’s prayers, and Hannah’s willingness to submit herself to the will of God was a means of what John Wesley called “prevenient grace.” This is the grace of God that goes before us. It is the grace of God that is active in our lives long before we ever know that God is there working in our lives.

Hannah’s stewardship of prayer — her willingness to pray bold prayers for a son and her willingness to submit that child to God’s service changed the trajectory of Samuel’s life, and the life of Israel forever. Samuel, being in the presence of God, receives a call from God to be a prophet, a Judge who rules over Israel. And in doing so he leads Israel through some of their greatest trials with grace and mercy.

All of this happened because before the child was even born, he had someone praying bold prayers for him.

Before John Wesley was born, he too had a mother who prayed big prayers for him. And though he followed the calling into ministry early in life, it wasn’t until much later that the full manifestation of those prayers would come to be — in the moment of a heart strangely warmed. But the work that Susanna Wesley started years before was brought to fruition in God’s timing.

You see when we look at our own lives and our own journey to this place where we meet today, it would be irresponsible for us to neglect to recognize and give honor to those whose prayers we stand on. Our mothers, fathers, friends, teachers, and faith community members who invested in us in prayer — before we ever knew it — these prayers have shaped our lives.

The untold number of voices crying out to God for the protection and blessing of our communities, our city, and our world have been heard by our God, and the answer to those prayers is sitting here, in this room today.

So, as we journey through this stewardship series, I will ask you to reflect on the commitment that you can make to prayer. Beginning next week you will be able to take one of these commitment cards, which will have a place for you to commit to prayer. When you prayerfully consider this section, remember that prayer is heard, and prayer is answered… sometimes long after we do the praying. This church community is a 132 year old testament to that fact.

Surely, this is a commitment that we can all make — for our future and for our present. We pray with hearts that are strangely warmed. We pray strange prayers — prayers that seek the welfare of those who might be considered enemies. We pray for blessings we may not be the recipients of. We pray for the upside down nature of God’s kingdom to fall upon our city. We pray that God’s will is done, in Fort Pierce as it is in heaven.