Yield

Opening Illustration

In a small Texas town, a bar-owner applied for permission to extend his premises, but members of the local Baptist church were staunchly opposed to his plans and launched a campaign with protests, press-releases, petitions and even prayer meetings.

Planning permission was granted, however, and building work began. The Christians felt bitterly disappointed until the week before the grand opening, when a lightning bolt struck the bar and burned it to the ground.

The church folk were beside themselves with joy. Their prayers had been answered! Their cause had been vindicated!

UNTIL the furious bar-owner decided to sue the church on the grounds that it was ‘ultimately responsible for the material demise of his livelihood, whether through direct or indirect actions or means’.

Suddenly everyone changed their tune pretty quickly.

All those who’d been trumpeting a miracle days before now rose up as one to deny all responsibility.

The case made its way to court where a judge surveyed the brief. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to decide this,’ he sighed.

‘We appear to have a publican who believes passionately in the power of prayer, and an entire congregation that has lost its faith entirely!!’

So … is our prayer life affecting all the things that are going on around us ? Is prayer an intricate part of day to day .. hour by hour living?

Is life an ongoing conversation .. the Lord leading .. us following ?

Are we living a life fully surrended to Him

Life .. a LIVING SACRIFICE

Through this short series we’ve noticed that PRAYER is very much expressed in the relationship we have with the Father. As we finish up today we’ll focus on how prayer is an action of SUBMISSION .. or SURRENDER .. or in the fact that as disciples we YIELD to the direction and will of our ALL WISE .. ALL POWERFUL Father in Heaven

Prayer is not some compartment in a day .. or something tacked on to life .. a duty we have to do

Prayer is the PRIVILEGED response we have to the Father that is with us .. the Holy Spirit within us as we live on this earth .. a day is coming when FAITH will give way to SIGHT .. and we’ll have new CREATION BODIES and no Holy Spirit dwelling within us

HOWEVER .. now .. in this world our lives are wrapped up in the Holy Spirit as we live lives for the GLORY of God

See how that is expressed in

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The logical response to all the MERCIES of God .. His love in redeeming us with the life of His own Son .. the One He raised from the dead to assure us that there is a resurrection .. the response HAS to be a life SURRENDED to Him in thanks and praise .. we are LIVING SACRIFICES which means ALL of life is WORSHIP

Every day we are fighting .. wrestling with our sinful nature for we have the Holy Spirit and He informs our minds .. guides and instructs so we understand God’s will .. his GOOD .. PLEASING .. PERFECT will

And that’s why we pray without ceasing .. coz we worship 24/7 .. we have yielded to Him and we are living out His good, pleasing and perfect will … and we need His help

We come together Sunday by Sunday so that TOGETHER we sing, expressing ourselves .. our thanks to God and to encourage each other .. we pray for ourselves and others .. we hear the Bible read .. we hear it proclaimed so that we are encouraged and strengthened, corrected and rebuked .. the Bible does that .. this time together strengthens us for the ongoing worship each day .. each week

We trust that this time together helps our families .. parents encouraged .. Kid’s Church helping children understand the gospel .. but it doesn’t stop there .. it continues as the family pile into the car and go home .. parenting is DISCIPLING children in the ways of God .. training them in the values and life they’ve been learning at Kid’s Church .. teaching them God’s good, pleasing and perfect will

It’s LIVING His will .. it’s how we talk to each other .. it’s how we respond to things around us .. how quick we are to forgive .. repent .. control anger .. be gentle .. giving .. be humble etc

It’s how we work if we have a job .. how we treat other workers .. how we treat parents .. teachers … the boss

It’s what we talk about at the coffee shop .. over the frence with the neighbours .. with mates etc etc … all of life is WORSHIP .. a life surrended to the Father .. the motivation is the GOSPEL .. we are now NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST .. under new management … we are followers of Jesus .. empowered by the Holy Spirit .. doing HIS WILL

It’s the closeness in this walk with Jesus .. and the more we seek that .. the more aware we are of His good pleasing and perfect will

Life .. Surrended to LOVE

It’s clear that coming into the kingdom things have changed .. we now know the God who is LOVE .. the Father of all mercies

How hard is it to YIELD to the Lord who entered into all the mess and disfunction of the world we live in and brought us ETERNAL SALVATION?

We need to learn to serve Him .. we need to KNOW Him better .. and we need to UNLEARN our past

NB Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

If you are not sure what means just keep reading humanity is dominated by SELF INTEREST .. preserving our own authority to live as we like .. declaring what we think is morally right and wrong .. people created in God’s image but ignoring the creator

So notice the stress

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We yield to the Father as we yield to each other .. the sacrifice of serving .. contributing to the needs of others .. putting others before ourselves

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Surrended to Love .. love is an action .. look how the Bible explains it

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” n says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” o

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Fathers GOOD .. PLEASING .. AND PERFECT WILL .. is not hidden! It’s here .. our MINDS need renewing .. our hearts need to be warmed by God’s love and that will flow on to love for others .. in the body of believers and outside

And this is why we need to be FAITHFUL in prayer (v.12) .. life is prayer .. a sensitivity to His leading more specifically for you … where are you serving .. where can you serve .. who is in need .. who could you help … where could you offer hospitality .. who is going through a tough time .. who needs someone to pray with .. where do you need strength to not lash out at someone .. we’d love to see someone .. enemy .. get there own back .. but God says love them and be kind .. overcome evil with good

Life is a sensativity to His leading .. do you hear His call? The gospel of grace will open our eyes to His will .. the power of His Spirit gives us the ability

ILLUSTRATION

Corrie ten Boom very famously asked the question

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?

Corrie was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp with her sister Betsie, yet Corrie’s life was marked by an unshakable trust in her heavenly Father. She seems to have lived in an almost continual conversation with God, asking and trusting her heavenly Father for everything.

Once they were transferred to a dormitory infested with fleas. They prayed for God’s intervention .. this was getting worse .. But then they realised the guards refused to enter their new quarters for fear of the fleas, .. they had a safe place for ministering to other prisoners and reading the Bible and praying together ..undisturbed. Thanks for the fleas

Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People . John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.

But it was a few years later .. after the war, Corrie speaking on forgiveness to a crowd of people and spotted a former Ravensbrück SS guard .. just like all the others, this guard had abused prisoners

This guard came up to Corrie and said ‘“How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein, to think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine.

And I, who had preached so often the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. ‘Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? “Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.” I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. “Jesus,” I prayed, “I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.” As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

This is love of another kind .. we need to desire of a life surrended to God the Father to ask for that special forgiveness and love .. and we must see the extent of this love

Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People . John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.

Yes .. even a hardened SS guard .. guilty of great cruelty and abuse .. and his sins are as black as ours and seperate us from the Father

BUT .. praise be to God .. y’see Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

CONCLUSION

Friends … I want prayer to be my sterring wheel and not the spare wheel!

A life surrended .. driven by prayerfulness .. but I’m a long way short

To walk with Jesus in a humble way .. seeking His wisdom .. grace .. reflecting daily on the great things that are mine but wanting others to know this great God that I know

That means keeping short accounts with God .. reflecting on each day and praying for forgiveness .. for grace to repent .. for understanding that the Father always loves me

I pray that this short series will prompt us all to prayer .. that we will be open to the Lord as He teaches us to pray .. that we will see this great need to rely on Him .. that we will take time to PAUSE .. to be STILL .. to know that our Father is fufficient for all things and He is in control

To REJOICE in the Lord who is HOLY and has make us His HOLY children and to rejoice in the fact that ALL that happens .. good and bad .. are for my growth in maturity .. to draw me nearer to Him

That I might see the generous invitation to ask the Lord for those things in His wisdom will be GOOD GIFTS .. things for my self and others .. and to KEEP PRAYING .. to PERSEVERE in prayer because the Father is one who is to be trusted .. even when I don’t undrstand all that is happening to me

For this is the Father that LOVES me .. I’m surrended to His love .. I YIELD to His will .. living a life of WORSHIP

MAY WE LIVE LIFE

PAUSE .. REJOICE .. ASK .. YIELD … teach us to P.R.A.Y.