Begin With Prayer

Crazy Things Happen When You Pray.

Declutter home...skulls everywhere…deliver furniture and stuff leftover from yard sale. Declutter her home. Bagged up the skulls and through them away. I saw a change in her. The superstitions and darkness that was holding her, changed in her. WH…every Sunday morning…I’m still waiting and praying for them to come to church here. I pray for that.

People in this room right now, where I prayed for God to get a hold of them. I never preached at them in their homes. I never had any lofty convincing conversations. I was just there with them. (Barn, Living Room, or Porch) And now they are here. Serving and worshipping God, taking steps toward God.

This room is filled with crazy things that have happened because of prayer! Because of your prayers.

TRANSITION:

How do you feel when you hear stories like this? Some of us were touched. We might even tear up a little. But is anyone else willing to admit that stories like this are also a little terrifying? Sure, we love to hear them when they’re about OTHER people. But we’re not so sure we want to find ourselves doing crazy things like this!

Here is a confession, I would bet many of the story tellers haven’t told you. Some may even be like me that for years when I heard these stories, I started thinking of the person telling them were up on the the Mount Rushmore of Christianity. But the reality is people were just living their life for Jesus, and the circumstances just kind of happened to them and in the midst of the circumstances, God moved and used them.

However, I’m going to be straight you with you this morning—If you and I are going to take the mission of Jesus seriously, we are in for an adventure…There’s no telling where he might send us and what he might lead us to do.

(Story) Gabriella corn beef dinner.

Following Jesus isn’t meant to be comfortable; it’s meant to be life changing. Lord may we seek to comfort, instead of to be comforted.

SERIES RECAP:

We are in a series called “How to B.L.E.S.S. Your Neighbor”.

This series is all about challenging us to be a blessing to our community. It is one think to say it, and another thing to do it.

IT is our mission to know and love Jesus and help others do the same. It is our mission to be a blessing to our community and this world.

Remember it isn’t a new idea for us to be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2–3 ESV

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Galatians 3:7–9 ESV

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

So we are reminding and challenging every one of us to remember and live as if we believe that we are blessed to be a blessing. So we are to identify the people and places we have been called to B.L.E.S.S.

Transition:

Remember we using the acronym B.L.E.S.S. to give us five practices to carry out everyday. And today, we’re talking about the first one, the “B” stands for Begin with Prayer.

Reasons We Don’t Pray:

Prayer is one of those things—like flossing, exercise or going to bed at a decent hour—that we know we should do but often don’t do.

When you go to the dentist and they ask you if you are flossing, are you tempted to lie? I’m flossing the same amount as the last time you asked me. What do you think?

Prayer can be like that for us. It’s something we know we should do, something we may even wan to do. But when a pastor, friend, or accountability partner comes along and asks us when the last time we prayed… “I’m praying the same amount as the last time you asked me.”

I don’t know how…many of us learned to pray as children—mostly at meals, bedtime, or from a metallica song. But how many reach adulthood without any additional instruction? We know we should pray, but many of us aren’t sure how.

I’m too busy…Let’s face it…prayer takes time, it takes focus, it takes energy; and many of us feel like we’re running short on all those things. Our busy lives crowd out a lot of things we know are important, and oftentimes that includes prayer.

I doubt it works…I prayed, I really did, and it didn’t seem to make any difference. I’ve felt that way before. Maybe its led you to question whether you even believe prayer makes a difference. Isn’t God going to do what God is going to do anyway? When we pray nothing seems to happen. This makes prayer difficult.

I have a confession to make! I have avoided praying for something boldly because I wondered, what if God doesn’t heal. Would I be giving someone falsehope? Would I be trusted again? Would it cause people to stumble because they went to God and God didn’t show up for them? I have thought all of these things and if I’m honest it has at times prevented me from asking. But someone called me on it and said, it isn’t your job to heal (that is God’s) it is your job to pray.

There are a lot of reasons why we don’t pray, but today I’m going to challenge everyone of us, to move beyond just hoping people find their way back to God and start helping. I want to challenge us to BEGIN with PRAYER. Take a step toward God in this area.

Jesus Begins with Prayer

His whole life was a blessing to the world. Everywhere He went, every conversation, every person, every moment He was a blessing. He prayed.

There is a consistent prayer pattern recorded in the first four books of the NT.

Luke 3:21 ESV

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened,

Jesus prays at his baptism and the heavens opened as he is filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed by the Father in Heaven.

Luke 5:16 ESV

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds by himself to pray.

Luke 9:16 ESV

And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them.

He prayed before performing miracles asking the Father to bless the work he was doing.

Luke 22:32 ESV

but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus prayed for his friends, that they would remain strong in faith.

Luke 22:41 ESV

And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,

Jesus spent the night before his crucifixion alone in a garden praying.

TRANSITION: Over and over again Jesus prioritized and prayed. He is an example for us. I’d like to focus on one of these occasions. Luke records a time when Jesus needed to decide who he was choosing to invest his time, effort, and energy into to further his mission. He prays about this major decision. Of his 12 disciples who he would name as apostles.

Luke 6:12–16 ESV

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus in this text prayed all night about who he was going to choose from his disciples who would be the apostles. How do you choose from a group of people who you love and care about who you will invest more time in.

I imagine coaches have a difficult time choosing players who make the team. Especially when there are players who are good or even better than good, but have exceptional character. A coach probably has some of the difficult decisions to make.

I imagine when grading papers as a teacher or professor, giving a student a poor grade, when you like the student, but their work is sub par.

There are times when I invest more energy in new people than the people who have been here long time because I believe God wants me there. There are other times I invest much time in my pastoral staff because if they are built up, equipped, and encouraged I am making a , larger, and impact more people by having them ready and equipped to make a difference in all of their teams.

Jesus looked at his disciples and saw potential, leadership skills, personalities, and temperaments. But because He understood that through these he would choose would be incredibly instrumental in BLESSING even more people, He spent the whole night in prayer.

We don’t know what Jesus prayed. But we know that in the morning, Jesus had clear direction. The decisions weren’t all the obvious choices. For some reason He chose fisherman, tax collectors, a religious zealot, and even a man who would later betray Him. When we pray, God leads us to the right thing. The choices may not be obvious, but prayer makes it work out.

Challenge: YOU Begin with Prayer

If we want to be part of BLESSING our world and helping people take steps toward God, we have to begin with prayer. We can no longer be the church that just hopes people take steps toward God, we need to ask God to show us how we can help others know and love Jesus.

“Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the WORD of God and PRAYER, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” (Hudson Taylor)

Here are ways we practically TOGETHER, BEGIN WITH PRAYER.

Plan: Things that are important to us get on our calendars. We make time for them. When something matters to us we make time for it. “If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.” “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Perhaps you might choose to pray first thing in the morning for 5 minutes and last thing before bed. Or you might set a reminder on your phone to pray during your lunch hour or some other tiem of the day. But the plan is something that goes beyond hoping you will pray. The plan is an intentional time to go and pray. Some people say planning isn’t living by the Spirit. I would say planning with the Spirit.

8/18 -9/7. 21 days of prayer. Sacrificial Corporate Prayer Time - go beyond hoping we will pray and planning to pray together. [e-mail] 6am if enough interest 12pm. 30 minutes. ‘we need to plan to pray to ask God how to serve and bless.

Prepare: Ask God to prepare your heart for the new adventure. For you and I to take the mission of Jesus seriously, we are going to be on an adventure and you won’t know everything is coming or how it will all play out. Ask God for eyes to see the people that need.

Review Matters of the Heart messages.

People and Places: Ask God to show you the people and the places He is calling you to bless. As you pray, make a mental journey of the places you will visit during the day. Who are the people you will encounter. Use your eyes to see the people God wants you to see.

B.L.E.S.S. Card: When you came in today, you were given one of these cards. I would like you to take it out right now. If you didn’t receive one, raise your hand and one of our ushers will bring you one.

As we BEGIN with PRAYER, ask this question…”Who are the people and where are the places, God is calling me to BLESS.”

Maybe your co-workers in the office or around the plant?

Maybe the neighbors that live on you road?

Maybe the family from your kids Rec League Team?

Maybe the business owner who just started a new business venture?

Maybe the staff at your favorite restaurant?

Write down what comes to mind on this card. Keep this card with you always. Adding names as God reveals them. And pray for them.

If you are not sure, use this card to begin praying for God to show you who you are called to BLESS>

If you know the people or the places already, write them down on this card and start praying for those people and places this week. Boldy ask God for an open door and opportunity to bless.

Maybe you’ll have an opportunity to meet a practical need.

Maybe you’ll have an opportunity to provide a listening ear.

Maybe you’ll have an opportunity to invite someone to join for breakfast and worship.

CONCLUSION:

Following Jesus isnt meant to be comfortable; it’s meant to be life changing. The mission of helping

Let’s move beyond hoping people take next steps toward God. And start planning, preparing, and let’s begin with prayer.

I want to guide us in a time of prayer right now.

God give us a desire to pray.

God prepare our hearts for the adventure ahead.

God give us clarity as to the people and places He is calling us to bless.

Pray