"A Perfect Pill"

“A Perfect Pill”

October 21, 2012

Psalm 63

I am an expert on pill taking. I have been taking a bunch of them for over 20 years now. In 1990 I had a massive heart attack that changed my life. I was in the hospital for 10 days and at the beginning it was touch and go. I made it and have not taken a day for granted since. “Every day is a gift from God. That’s why they call it the Present!” There is a lot of truth to that saying.

God blessed me and I regained my strength to the extent that I went on to pass the physical for and to become a correctional officer – which I was for a short period of time. I watched my health and exercised and even held the record for lifting weights for my age group at the local gym.

But one of the traumatic things about my health issues was that I had to take pills for the rest of my life. That was depressing. One doctor, when we moved here, convinced me they weren’t necessary and recommended I stop taking them. In a short while I had heart issues. I went on to have four stints put in my heart and had to have triple by-pass surgery. I learned the hard way you better take your pills!

So we do what we have to do and each day I begin with a handful of pills and at the end of each day I take another handful. Most of them are vitamins – but a number of them have to do with my heart.

I have found that pills are good things. They may have a negative meaning for you; you may associate them with unpleasant experiences – but taking pills may prolong and enrich your life. Most of us take them regularly.

I want to talk to you about another pill we need to take more of. Actually, it is an acrostic. P. I. L. L. You know I like them! Acrostics make it easier for me to remember things.

I was sitting in a back room at church this week waiting for people to arrive for a board meeting, thinking about our church; praying for our church; trying to figure out what we could do differently or maybe do more of that would help us as a church and as individuals. Then I had a moment of inspiration. The Holy Spirit gave me a pill – and it is not a bitter pill! The Scripture says,

“In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3

God’s ways are not bitter – they are better. God’s pills are not bitter – they are sweet. Here’s the first letter in pill – 1. P. Pray more. That seems simple. That seems obvious. But it is so hard for us to do. Satan works so hard to prevent this from happening. We need to pray more – certainly for ourselves and our needs – but especially for our church. We need to become a praying church. We need to become a praying people. The Bible says,

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer...” 1 Peter 3:12

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:13-16

Folks, there is POWER in prayer. We know that. Prayer moves the hand of God. So why is it so hard for us to pray? Are we too busy? Do we lack faith? Why do we struggle with such a powerful thing? I’m not sure – but I know we need to disciple our selves and pray. Lack of pray is one of the reasons our country is in the mess it is. Lack of prayer is the reason we are so spiritually weak. Lack of prayer holds us back as a church. I wonder what would happen if every person in our church family prayed for our church every day for 5 minutes. Do you think it would make a difference? I do. We need to pray more.

The disciples caught a glimpse of the power of prayer in observing Jesus’ prayer life. He was always going to a quiet spot to pray. One time it impressed the disciples. Listen.