A prayer that changed my life.

Trust in the Lord: A Life-Changing Prayer

Opening prayer

Some of you probably have heard my story many times, I appoligize, ahead of time, for that, I was 48 years old when my world was rocked. My marriage had fallen apart and I was in shock, to be truthful it had been falling apart for years but buried my head in the sand and hoped it would get better. If you had asked me if I was a christian, back then, I would have said yes. I said that I beleived in Christ and I had gone to church before but really was more Christ adjacent than actually a christian. So when my world fell apart, I did too. I had a friend that got me over the shock of being thrown out of my marriage and kept me from doing something really stupid. My wife and I tried to fix our marriage but if you don’t know what you are doing the results usually don’t get better.

But it gave me time to plan. You see I had given up most of my life by sticking my head in the sand (not a great plan to save anything) so when I realized it might not be fixable then I began planning for what will I do if it doesn’t work out. See the friend that talked me of the ledge that night was a christian so I knew or thought I knew what his life was like. He had lots of guy friends from the church that were really good guys. I knew that him and his wife did alot of things at the church besides Sunday. So I began to think hey if I start going to this church I could get some friends and have a social life.

Isn’t that the best reason to go to church. Let’s use the church to fix my social life. After a year I got to test the plan I made as I found myself on my own. Guess what planning doesn’t stop the pain and I found myself realing, so I tried church that was in October. And for the next few months the pastor spent really roughing me up. I swear, I thought people were feeding him info on what was going on because every Sunday he worked me over the coals. I could not wrap my head around everything I was hearing. I would leave Sunday service trying to figure out how every message was directed at me. I remember saying to my friend that I needed to get control over this emotion and understand what I was supposed to do. And he would just smile at me and say keep coming and you will be surprised.

After 5 months of this emotional roller coster ride, I was still not able to get a grip on understanding what I was supposed to do. I read everything that my friend gave me to read and went to everything he told me to go to. I just didn’t know how to fix my life and to fix what i was feeling. The anger, the sadness the feeling of being out of control. If I could just fix this. Then I was told about a Men’s mission trip to Mexico. Once again I thought that this would be a great way to make some friends. Take my mind off of the problems I had, just for a week. Once again I was looking for a way that I could fix this. Don’t get me wrong people were being fantasic, I was making connections and I was learning but I could not get out of my head. I was convinced that I wasn’t doing something or I wasn’t trying hard enough. A trip with a Group of guys I really liked but boy was I going for the wrong reasons. Running away and trying to figure out what I needed to do to fix my life.

First night in Mexico we were taken to a church to a service. It was a service like I never experienced. The building had holes in the roof and the chairs were plasitic with Mexican beer adverts on the back. Needless to say the place was mindblowing for me, but it rocked. I had never experienced a church service like that one. They jumped all the way through worship. And the service was in Spanish so I didn’t understand it much. My head was spinning.

I didn’t realize that this was just the beginning. We the next day headed out two hours into the desert to a little village. We were going to replace a wooden roof of a church with a new steel one. So when we arrived we got straight at it and by the end of the day I was exhausted. Then we set up camp in the Pastoras yard. I had been told to bring a tent so I had picked up one at Walmart a single person one or another name was a pup tent. Picture me in a pup tent. I always say picture a tomato wrappred in cling wrap. But I was so exhausted I didn’t care. For the next 5 days I worked harder than I have ever. But with any missions trip we did things in the community. We were to try share where we say God working every day at supper. So many things happened that had no explaination that I could come up with. Peoples lives were changing almost every moment as we ripped this roof off and built a new one. People were experiencing God in miraculous ways.

I could not explain it, as what ever it was, was coming so fast and furious I could not comprehend it. I felt overwhelmed and physically exhausted. It tried everynight to wrap my head around what I was experiencing but I was so tired that I was asleep in seconds. By the end of the 5 days we crawled onto the bus to head back to the mission. I can’t explain exactly what I was feeling but if you have ever wanted to get alone and try to make sense of what was happening that was it. I just needed to try and make sense of everything but I wanted to do it alone. Was it real? How did that happen? None of it made sense.

All I wanted to do is crawl into a shower (Which everyone on that bus desperately needed) and figure out what I just experienced. That is the only thought I could muster on that bus, get me back I need to figure this out. Then they annouced one more stop. We were going to see a building at a drug rehab center that the mission worked on the year before. I was done hopefully it was a quick drive in and then we would be back to the mission. But no, we went in. It was a tough place to be in and the last thing that my brain could cope with. There was so much that happened in that place that I would love to share the whole story with you. But I found myself praying for a young man that was my oldest son’s age. He was a drug addict and more but staring into his face all I wanted to do in not mess him up more. Lets say I thought I was doing a terrible job praying for him and was convinced that I didn’t know what I was doing but when it was over he collapsed in my arms crying.

Well I was a mess and the grey matter was leaking out of my ears. I crawled back on that bus and prayed that I get it. If I give up trying to control my life and go where God tells me to go and do what he says. I don’t have to figure it out but my life will be fixed by Him. I didn’t know exactly what I had prayed but the peace and joy that I felt after was something I never wanted to lose. This life was possible if I got out of my own way and let Jesus be the center.

Psalm 37:3–5 NLT

Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.

Wow the only person that I was trusting was myself. My need of control was going to be my solution to my problems but it was part of the issue. I think that God had to break me physically and mentally before I would trust him. My stubborness, I thought was my strength, had a lot to do with my problems. It was not the solution but my barrier to what my heart wanted. It was not until I trusted in the Lord that I could prosper. Not financially but in Peace and Joy. Once I was able to take the focus off of myself and place it on Jesus Christ that I could see that our lives are meant to serve others and spread his good news.

Once I started to trust the Lord and doing good for others then my present problems started to go away. I was lucky that I had been obedient to God by going on this mission even when I was going for the wrong reasons. He used that oportunity to teach me that the way was through Him even when my world is falling apart. That Jesus’ life and teaching are the nurishment and protection that we need in all our circumstances. I needed a two by four to the forehead to see this. So if you find yourself going through something trust Him, Pray to him and serve others. Focus on Jesus’s teaching and his life as the example on we approach our own problems.

Matthew 20:26–28 CSB

It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This is a process of trust, not a trust that will be earned as we go. Christ has already earned that on the cross. It is not only a process of surrendering of our desires but to delight in the desires that Jesus wants for our lives. This what changes lives. We need to align our wants and desires to God’s path for our lives. My desire to fix my pain and anger needed to be transformed into a desire to focus on serving others. That was the only way to to fix me was to take me out of the picture. It was a complete rewrite on everything I believed about fixing things. Don’t try to understand it, surrender to it.

I prayed for a way of explaining what this was like for a men’s event and Gods sent me an image that still is with me today. I was in an ocean near the shore and the sea was rough. And the harder I tried to swim to shore the more I was bashed against the rocks. The more I tried to climb up them more the rocks cut into my hands. The more I tried to stand on my own the slippery covered the rocks made me fall. The land was what i wanted and the whole time Jesus was calling me out to sea. Once I stopped fighting the rip tide, the less I was injured. Christ was calling me out to be with him. I realized that I needed to see this not only for the imagery for my talk but I also needed the reminder. I also realized that I had desires that I needed to let go of and the message was to point to me because I obviously needed to refocus on Christ at that time. This is how we change not a one and done. We have to continually surrender over and over. Our desires will align with God’s not by our force of will but by surrendering our will completely. Transformation through surrender is the path to Joy in our lives. Jesus surrendered his will completely to the Lord’s will and sacrificed himself for us. God’s will is for us is the promise of everlasting life with him.

Romans 12:1 NLT

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Wow, so easy right? Just surrender. But it is not easy our desires are over whelming at times but God has given us things to help us along the way. God’s presence and desire for our surrender. He sometimes puts us in positions that we can learn from him. He can give us people in our lives that can help us when we struggle to surrender. They can lift us up when we are down and be our teachers when we need it. They can point to the life of Jesus Christ as the example of sacrifice for others.

There is also a call that Jesus commanded us to do together. It was a call to remember that Jesus sacrificed himself for us our sins. We as followers of Christ are to do together until his return. Communion. Communion is open to all who call Jesus our Lord and acknowledge that he died on the cross and rose again for our sins. Anyone who believes this is welcome. So if you have just made the decision to call Jesus your Lord and Savior or wanting to recommit to Jesus again after a long time. Please join us as a community of believers, whether in this room or watching at home, in communion. if you need gluten free put your hand up and the ushers will bring you one.

Jesus surrendered his will and followed Gods will to become the sacrifice for our sins. To let his body be broken for us on the cross and his blood was poured out to wash our sins. So please join me. Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it into pieces and gave it to his disciples saying, Take this and eat it, for this is my body. Lets take the bread together.

And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which comfirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Let us drink the cup.

Jesus’s life is the example sacrificing one’s will for God’s will. but the prayer that changed my life was a prayer that has to be prayed everyday. and i am so grateful for that prayer as it has transformed my life not once but many times. I am not perfect but I am so grateful when i get it somewhat right. I like to think that it was through this prayer. If I give up trying control of my life and go where God tells me to go and do what he tells me to do. I don’t have to figure out how to fix my life God will. This is a prayer of a person at the beginning of their surrender and now I will change it to. God your will be done not mine. That i found myself here in Weyburn. I didn’t want to leave a place where I had been for nearly 40 years but God had different plans. Now I have a new family so I hope that this example helps anyone who is struggling. Trust God he will ensure that your life is one of Joy.

Lets pray

Benidiction

Romans 12:2 NLT

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Bible Passage: Psalm 37:3–5

Summary: Psalm 37:3-5 encourages believers to trust in the Lord, do good, and commit their ways to Him, assuring them that He will bring their desires to fruition.

Application: This passage teaches Christians to place their confidence in God’s promises, especially in times of uncertainty and struggle. By praying and aligning our lives with His will, we experience profound transformation and peace.

Teaching: This sermon emphasizes the importance of faith, action, and surrender in our relationship with God, illustrating how trusting Him can lead to a life marked by joy and fulfillment.

How this passage could point to Christ: In the larger narrative of Scripture, this theme foreshadows Christ's complete trust and submission to the Father, reminding us that through Him we find the ultimate fulfillment of our desires and purposes when we commit our ways to God.

Big Idea: When we trust in the Lord and commit our ways to Him, our lives will be transformed, reflecting His goodness and faithfulness in every aspect.

Recommended Study: As you prepare this sermon, consider exploring the historical context of Psalm 37, particularly the audience’s challenges during that time. Use Logos to examine different translations and their nuance in verses 3-5, as well as commentaries that discuss the nature of divine trust. Investigating biblical examples of individuals who lived out this trust could enrich your application.

1. Trust and Thrive

Psalm 37:3

Perhaps, you can emphasize that trusting in the Lord involves active obedience and doing good. Explain that believers are called to cultivate faithfulness by choosing to follow God's path, even when circumstances seem dire. Highlight that God provides when we dwell in the land He gives us, equating this to spiritual nourishment and protection found in Christ. Encourage the audience to reflect on ways they can actively trust and do good in their current situations.

2. Delight and Desire

Psalm 37:4

You could suggest that believers are encouraged to take delight in the Lord, which transforms their hearts' desires into ones that align with God's will. Explain that as we delight in God, He reshapes our inner longings, leading to a life of fulfillment. Highlight Christ as the ultimate desire who fulfills and transforms our wants into His purposes. Encourage the audience to consider what truly delights their hearts and how they can shift their focus toward God.

3. Commit and Conquer

Psalm 37:5

Maybe, remind the audience of the importance of committing their way to the Lord. Stress the idea that committing is an act of surrender. Through Jesus' example of complete submission to the Father, we see the ultimate form of commitment. Reassure them of God’s promise that He will act on their behalf, working things out for their good, as evidenced in Christ's redemptive work. Invite listeners to entrust their plans and difficulties to God, expecting His faithful response.