Prayers people don't like

Psalm 119:82 CSB

82 My eyes grow weary looking for what you have promised; I ask, “When will you comfort me?”

We are jumping right in today, jumping in the deep end of the pool, going to get going right with the good stuff, God’s word, the Bible, words written thousands of years ago but something with which we can identify ourselves in almost immediately.

When God will you comfort me?

Let me ask you rhetorically,

How do you find comfort? Are you ok being uncomfortable?

What would you settle for so you don’t have to be uncomfortable?

Meditate on that question for a few seconds.

Do you even like looking at that question? It’s harsh isn’t it. Words carry truth and are so powerful. My wife recently told me I can’t use the word “failure” to describe anything that she does that goes wrong. Doesn’t like how that word feels.

In this question, do you like the way the word “settle” feels, it seems so mean, but what about it is wrong?

What would you settle for so you don’t have to be uncomfortable?

I remember one person sharing with me that a woman the person really respected shared, that when the woman was young she really feared giving God her sexuality, what she did, who she dated, all that goes into the woman’s sexuality. She feared giving God that, because that area of trust was really hard for her, so she settled for what she wanted rather than what God had for her. Then she repented. Ask for God’s forgiveness and did the actions that God would have her do. She actually trusted God with her whole life including her sexuality, no longer settling and when she did it made all the difference in her life. The other person shared it with me in awestruck honor of the woman.

Years passed, that person who heard that advice didn’t listen. Lived life not willing to be uncomfortable, and instead settled. No person in any relationship is perfect but going against the obvious of what God has for us to settle for encounters, relationships, that were full of red flags and brokenness.

It’s not just sex, it’s all areas of our lives. It’s discomfort, it’s anxiety, it’s pain.

What about trusting God with your money. How you trust is you do what the thing or the person says. Do you trust your GPS, your google maps, then when it tells you to turn right, you turn right? Trust your dentist? Then your brushing your teeth twice a day.

If you trust God, you do what God says.

Some of you might believe you trusted God. What if the response from God is wait?

Wait

This is really why a lot of people settle, because we can’t wait.

Sales and marketing people know this. They use anticipation to get the most money out of us as possible, you can pay a little bit more and be part of the early birds. Get into Six Flags a little earlier. Be a member and see the sales before anyone else.

A common thing I have to teach my students is how to wait. The great thing about Autism, especially those with exceptional needs, they will teach you what dedication really looks like. If you hate waiting, like they hate waiting. I mean really hate it, start peeing on the person making you wait, the situation will change really fast. Let me tell you, waiting is over.

Let’s talk about something nicer, a better image for your mind.

You know those beautiful Bible verses about mounting up on wings of Eagles. It sounds so pretty and magnificent, because Eagles are beautiful and majestic. Soaring in the sky, ever seen one of those videos taken from an Eagles point of view, an Eagle soaring seeing all over.

What does a person do who has that kind of majestic-ness,

Isaiah 40:31 NRSV

31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

See the key word that gives the strength. Its wait.

Waiting is the opposite of settling. There is a not-yet, not yet seen which I hope some will recognize as an act of faith. One reason a child doesn’t like to wait, especially ones I know, is that they don’t know if it will happen. One reason an adult is willing to pursue what they otherwise wouldn’t do is they are unwilling to wait for change. They don’t have faith God will do anything.

And before anyone thinks that what I am talking about is irresponsible, pollyanna, dellulu like a person you might encounter who says something like I know I’m coughing up blood but I’m just waiting on the Lord.

No, that’s dumb. Stop masking your fear with dellulu faith. Go to a doctor.

We don’t have “main character energy.” God gave us a brain, some abilities, and His word to guide us. We don’t have to “wait on the Lord” to know if we should treat someone with love and respect. God told us that already. We don’t know if we should Wait on God instead of figuring out if we can afford something before we buy it.

But we might need to wait on the Lord to see our children mature, salvation of our friends, restoration of our finances, and other blessings that come with time.

Waiting on the Lord is important. It is vital. It is vital for our spiritual health. It is vital for how we treat people. It is vital for how we view all of life and eternity. It even matters in how we deal with politics.

Think about this which I read today written by Jake Meador,

“That’s because the argument of patience is simple: A human life is a long time. And if you believe in the eternality of the human soul, ... then eternity is longer.  The great object of your decisions made today should not simply be “What will satisfy me now?” but rather: “What will shape me so that I will be healthy and joyful in 50 years … or in 1,000 years?” Patience justifies the practice of mercy and tolerance because it recognizes that we ourselves will change with time, as will our neighbors. So, it is wise and good to give people space and opportunity to change organically in response to love and care and the ordinary happenings of life, rather than seeking to impose stringent and exacting demands on them as part of some doomed project of political perfectionism.”

Waiting on the Lord is another example of God showing us with our relationship with Him that He is different than us. If we want to follow Him than becoming like him begins with waiting.

But in the meantime what do we do?

Because I started with pain. I started with a verse that comes from a prayer about being tired, being weary.

Psalm 119:82 CSB

82 My eyes grow weary looking for what you have promised; I ask, “When will you comfort me?”

Do we have to walk, talk, and act like everything is fine? Do we need to make sure that our thankfulness masks our pain?

What do we do before we act, before we decide, and do that all while we are being responsible.

The verse I began with comes from the longest chapter in the Bible. It’s from a song, a poem, written in the book, with the silent P, a reminder that all P should be silent but also, it’s a book of incredible feeling. And this chapter is a way to remember the entire Hebrew alphabet and it focuses on the importance of the Bible, the words that share about God, from God.

I took just one letter Kaf, we say the same sound with the letter K and instead of K for Kangaroo, Hebrews could learn K like this

Psalm 119:81–88 CSB

81 I long for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes grow weary looking for what you have promised; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” 83 Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke, I do not forget your statutes. 84 How many days must your servant wait? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors? 85 The arrogant have dug pits for me; they violate your instruction. 86 All your commands are true; people persecute me with lies—help me! 87 They almost ended my life on earth, but I did not abandon your precepts. 88 Give me life in accordance with your faithful love, and I will obey the decree you have spoken.\

Powerful, powerful, words but do you like it. I mean look again at Ps 119:83

Psalm 119:83 CSB

83 Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke, I do not forget your statutes.

Wrinkly, leathery, this is not a pretty description. A wineskin is a piece of animal skin that would work like a bottle, but because it was skin, when wine ferments, the gases expanded how much room the wine would take up, the volume of the wine, so as the wine ferments the wineskin needs to grow with it, and cool thing about animal skin is it can stretch, until it dries out. Smoke would dry it out, it would make worthless.

This person is saying that they are either old, look old, or maybe not old but just worthless. Even though they are they don’t forget the rules, laws and directions from God.

Psalm 119:81–84 CSB

81 I long for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes grow weary looking for what you have promised; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” 83 Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke, I do not forget your statutes. 84 How many days must your servant wait? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors?

The person is being treated badly by others. Wrongly. Have you ever taken matters into your hands, done what you knew God would not have you do, because you refused to wait for God to make it right. You felt like a wimp, a coward, a punk, a beta. So you no longer waited but went on the attack because you refused to wait for God.

This person actually waited for God. Is praying to God. Even then,

It can just keep getting worse and worse. Other in any job it’s not the actual moving of things, physical labor or even choices but the people that have to be dealt with. Same in this piece of scripture

Psalm 119:85–87 CSB

85 The arrogant have dug pits for me; they violate your instruction. 86 All your commands are true; people persecute me with lies—help me! 87 They almost ended my life on earth, but I did not abandon your precepts.

This person saying this prayer is surrounded by messed up people. They are digging pits, digging holes for the person to fall into. It could be a metaphor like people who try to let you fall into traps to ruin your life. Or it could be literal, falling could break something, the injury could cause death.

This person is trying to do all the right things but people tell lies about them. Ever had lies told about you, gossip. Family try to ruin you. So called friends back stab you. Co-workers manipulate the situation so they got the best and you got cut out, laid off or worse. Did you use that as an excuse to hurt them, pay them back, disrespect them?

This is what God tells us to do. This is his life hack.

Matthew 5:43–45 CSB

43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

In other words how many of us completely rejected what God would have me do. I have, I sinned, because if we wait on the Lord, we also trust God with our enemies. We trust God to follow Him and then we know that we will actually love the person the way God loves us. God loves you even in your sin. God works for our redemption, he worked for a way to get us back even when we were in sin. Now he doesn’t help us sin. Doesn’ t make it safer or better for us to walk away from Him. God hates sin.

Any thing surprising so far,

Let’s review God hates sin, but God still love us enough to send His own son to die for us while we were still sinners. This is the action of love.

God expects us to respond to our enemies in the same way. Not because we like them. Not because they are good people. Not because they deserve it. But because God says so,

Matthew 5:45–47 MSG

45 for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. 46 If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. 47 If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

Intense right, if we are to actually follow Jesus we love others, everyone, and this is the one thing were I see the most followers of Jesus struggle. We love the lovable. Then when we become unlovable, and all of us end up at times in pain, hurting, hangry, sad, down, we even recognize that we are unlovable, and think we have nothing to give. We feel separated from God even more, because at that moment when we are hangry even we would hate ourselves if we had to deal with ourselves.

But thanks be to God we can do something different. We are called to something different. We are given the strength to do something different. We are giving forgiveness by God and we too can forgive others too. While we wait for God to work out justice, mercy, and fix it all.

Romans 12:19 CSB

19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.

In our lives we can wait on God to deal with people around us. We can trust him with our forgiveness.

Some might be thinking that all this talk about forgiveness and waiting on God is me speaking about the ethics of the actions of President Trump last night. I’m not. President Trump isn’t going to listen to my sermon. I don’t know if any of you know him. Or know someone who knows him. My uncle has been in the oval office with Him but he can’t get President Trump on the phone or anything like that.

One of things I would like to apologize for is wasting our time on issues of things happening far away and preaching to you about them. As if any of us, even in our debates make any bit of difference.

I want each and every one of you not to care about the news, influencers, thought leaders, politicians, instead I want you to care about what the Lord Jesus wants of you. In your world, in your time. That the relationship you have with the Lord Jesus guide you in the way you do life. From what you spend your money on, how you work, how you do family, how you vote, who you listen to, all of it, that you’ll put Jesus first.

And God calls on us to pray for those in authority over us. From Trump to Newsome to Mayor Fugazi. From all government leaders and positions of authority.

1 Timothy 2:1–2 NLT

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

What I am calling on you to do today is the same thing God was leading me to tell you before the orders were given.

Pray to God, Wait on God, Listen to God, and act on what He tells you to do.

Let us stop thinking that all of this begins and ends with us. So what does that look like,

It means if you are thinking a lot about this war with Iran,

Pray. Name all that God is, That He is everywhere. With the grandmother in Iran, the Christ follower in the mountains, the child in Israel, and even the puppy in Missouri. That God hears all prayers. Worship God in your prayer by calling out how awesome He is. Then ask him what you want to ask him about in regards to Iran. Pray for our leaders. Pray for their leaders. Pray for peace.

And if or when God inspires you to any additional action do it!

This is what it means to wait on the Lord. It means that if you big concern isn’t Iran, but your evil co-worker Irene, than you pray about Her too!

Pray and worship God, saying that He loves all people. He is the savior of the world. He blesses all. He blesses woman and men. He restores. He works all things for good. Then confess your own sin. Whenever you see Irene you feel like pushing her over. You join in people talking crap about her. You dream horrible things to do with her. You confess all this to God and then you ask God, how can you love her? Would he give you the faith to forgive her, to trust God with all the evil stuff she has done. Would He work out His vengeance and His justice. And then you do what God leads, what is in agreement with what God says in the Bible. And when she pisses you off again, you go in prayer again.

Then you can understand this prayer, a prayer that doesn’t resolve into some pretty excitement or happily ever after but a legitimate part of what it means to be a Jesus follower in a sinful world.

Psalm 119:81–88 CSB

81 I long for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes grow weary looking for what you have promised; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” 83 Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke, I do not forget your statutes. 84 How many days must your servant wait? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors? 85 The arrogant have dug pits for me; they violate your instruction. 86 All your commands are true; people persecute me with lies—help me! 87 They almost ended my life on earth, but I did not abandon your precepts. 88 Give me life in accordance with your faithful love, and I will obey the decree you have spoken.