Introduction: One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Rom 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: in other words, through the gospel one becomes exposed to the power of God that can radically change their lives!
The word salvation here means to be delivered, to be made whole or complete. Pointing to the reality that when God comes into a person’s life, a total transformation begins to happen. They are healed at every level… Spiritually, emotionally, relationally and ultimately physically… which happens at the resurrection!
You see… when a person puts their faith in Christ and surrenders their lives to him… A supernatural exchange happens. As they surrender and give their life to God… God then gives them his life. His spirit takes up residence within their lives and Scripture says… their spirits are reborn!
Eph 2:1-6 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.
This is what Jesus was getting at when he told the Pharisee Nicodemus…John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
Being born again means they experienced that spiritual exchange with God… where God by his Spirit… has given birth to a new life within their heart. At the moment of that exchange… Not only is a person made right with God, but God infuses them with a whole new DNA consisting of new desires and passions and spiritual gifting!
But the change doesn’t stop there, because immediately God begins the work of sanctification in that person’s life… Meaning he begins to transform that person into the image of Christ.
This includes emotional healing. When a person surrenders their live to God, their guilt is wiped clean, their shame is removed, and God begins to heal them from their past wounds.
This results in the transformation of their perception or their view of themselves and life and others. This of course begins to impact all their relationships as God begins to heal and restore their broken relationships through the power of forgiveness!
You see… when God really gets hold of you… everything changes! I am sure all of us have a story to tell about how God is changed your own life when you first put your faith in him. And I am sure you have heard of amazing stories of how God has radically changed other people’s lives.
One of my favorite stories that I’ve told before… Is that of a pastor named Jim Cymbala. He is an American author and pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City. He was unique in that he felt his calling was to preach in the slums of New York. Obviously a place filled with hard-core addicts and criminals.
He tells the story of how on one Sunday morning… he was so tired at the end of the service that he just went to the edge of the platform, pulled off his tie and sat down and draped his feet over the edge.
At that point he looked up and saw a man who looked about fifty, unkempt, and absolutely filthy. He looked up at him rather sheepishly, as if saying, “Could I talk to you?”
At this point let me share with you his own words about what was running through him at that moment…
We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, “What a way to end a Sunday. I’ve had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here’s a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine.”
He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him. I asked him, “What’s your name?”
“David.” “How long have you been on the street?” “Six years.” “How old are you?” “Thirty-two.” He looked fifty--hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. “Where did you sleep last night, David?” “Abandoned truck.”
I keep in my back pocket a money clip. As I reached back to get it… I was thinking; I’ll give him some money. Usually we don’t give money to people. We just take them out to get something to eat.
As I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me and said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, I want the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.”
At that point… I completely forgot about David, and I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. I pleaded with God, “Please forgive me! I am so sorry to represent you this way.
Suddenly I started to weep, and David began to weep too. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. He fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other.
From that point on… Christ changed David’s life. He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. We detoxed him in 6 days. We got him a place to live. We hired him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed.
One year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. The minute he took the mic and began to speak, I said, “This man is a preacher.” And sure enough… a few years later we ordained David and now he is an associate minister of a church in New Jersey.
Now that is the power of the gospel! There is no other power in the earth like that… That can take a person and totally transformed them into something beyond what anyone else could ever envision.
And this is just one of millions of stories that we have all heard about the power of God!
But reality of the power of the gospel doesn’t stop there. There are stories upon stories of how the gospel has not only totally transformed an individual’s life… but has actually transformed whole corporations, whole cities, even countries!
Chaplain Ernst Gordon in his book "Through the Valley of the Quai" tells the story of how the gospel totally transformed the Japanese prisoner’s camp during War during World War II.
The men in this camp were reduced to skeletons, riddled with disease, and the only way they could survive was by the law of the jungle, everyman for himself! They hated, they cursed, they stole; they watched one another die and looked forward to death as their only means of escape.
A few prisoners decided this was not the way they wanted, to live. They began to study their Bibles, and began to offer prays for the dying. Amazingly, the atmosphere began to change in that prison.
Eventually, a worship center was built, and many of the men began to come to worship. This reawakening of faith effected a miraculous change in the morale of the prisoners. Instead of living by the law of the jungle, every man for himself, men were now willing to help another, care for one another, and love one another.
Chaplain Jordon writes, "This Church of the Spirit” which is what the worship center was called, became the throbbing heart which gave life to the camp and transformed it in considerable measure from a mass of frightened individuals into a caring community.
From this renewal, these men received the inspiration that made life possible. According to their own testimony… the Spirit of God gave them the strength to live, to care, to love one another, in spite of all their pain or the hopelessness of their situation. Clearly to these men… God is there!"
Once again I can go on and on and on with other stories like this one! I’m sure you are getting the gist of what I am saying. Where the gospel is being preached… The power of God changes lives.
But let me be also quick to point out… that when you remove the gospel from environments… Even Christian environments… Lives begin to change back to what they once were before they met Christ.
Just for an example… There was a Christian Fraternity on a state university campus. This Fraternity had a solid reputation for being a group of solid young Christian men with high standards of acceptance.
You had to have a pastor’s recommendation to be accepted into the Fraternity. Regular church attendance somewhere was not only encouraged, but it was expected. They did a lot of community service projects and held regular group Bible Studies.
In the early years, many young men solidified their relationship with Christ as members of that Fraternity. It was truly a great organization because Jesus Christ was at the core of everything they believed.
But this fraternity was also a bit of a laughing stock around campus. They were considered wimpy because they didn’t drink and have wild parties like the other fraternities. They were mockingly called a bunch of goodie two shoes and they were often the butt of college pranks.
One year the Christian fraternity decided to do something to change their image on campus. They were tired of being known as the wimps and weirdoes. They wanted respect.
So they decided to give their fraternity a makeover. They began their makeover by changing their name. They took out all references to Jesus Christ in their name and all of their literature. Their Bible studies became optional and it was just a matter of time before they just stopped having them.
They also stopped doing community service projects. It wasn’t long before they started to loosen their high standards a little. They stopped requiring a pastor’s recommendation for acceptance. In fact you didn’t you didn’t even have to be a Christian to join. Their standards continued to loosen and they began to tolerate non-Christian behavior.
Things continued to evolve and in less than ten years… that once strong Christian Fraternity regressed to the point of becoming just like every other fraternity on campus. They had just as many wild parties and their reputation around campus was just as wild as that of any other frat house.
They wanted to become like the rest, and they did.
Now I realize that this story is quite disturbing… and probably raises all kinds of questions in your own mind about what’s really going on here. Questions like… Can you lose your salvation or can’t you lose your salvation… All good questions… But not my point here.
My point is that we have a role to play in whether we see our lives moving forward and growing, or going backwards and devolving.
There are things we can do that will help us continue to move forward in our faith in God and grow to become the person that God wants us to be. Or there are things we can do that will have the complete opposite effect.
And one of the things we can do according to Scripture… to see our lives continue to move forward and grow… is prayer! Our prayer lives go hand-in-hand with personal transformation.
So, if you want to see yourself continue to grow and mature in your faith… and become all that God created you to become… you need to continue to grow in your prayer life.
This is one of the reasons why over the last months we have been doing this series on prayer. It is my heartfelt conviction that the most powerful and sustaining thing that we have at our disposal that will not only transform our lives… but help us navigate through all the hard things that are ahead of us.
And so I would like to add to that series this morning by talking about the importance that prayer plays in seeing our lives transform… in a message titled… “Prayer and the transformed life!” But first let’s pray…
Movie SUMMARY: As most of you know, we have been taking clips from the movie “War Room”. For those who have not seen this movie, it is a movie that illustrates the importance and power that prayer has in our lives, especially in our marriages.
Throughout the movie… There are all kinds of what I would call… turning points! Those pivotal times in our life where we make a choice that resets the course of our life. Sometimes we can make choices that leads to growth and transformation.
And sometimes we make choices that can lead to devastation and destruction. This movie focuses on this couple… Tony and Elizabeth Jordan… And how they made choices that lead to growth and transformation.
In fact, one of the fun things about the movie, is that we get to see how these two individuals were totally transformed in a positive way by the power prayer!
By far, the most significant changes came in Tony’s life. He went from being self-focused… to Christ centered. He went from being a proud sinner… to humble and repentant. And as a result of those things, he went from being an absentee husband… to devoted believer.
You see… Grace and forgiveness can change a person. And so can prayer. The scene that I want to show you this morning… gives us some insight into what are some of the key components of prayer... No results in life transformation.
Clip… Tony asking for forgiveness
That’s very powerful clip, isn’t it? From this clip we can identify three components of prayer that are essential to see a person’s life transformed.
1. Confession and repentance is the foundation to change!
“I was ready to defend myself. Except this time I can’t. I hate saying this. But I deserved to get fired. I was deceiving them. I was deceiving you.” Tony Jordan
Confession is hard. It’s admitting fault. Accepting guilt and responsibility. There is a step beyond confession, however, repentance.
Acts 3:19-20 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Are you catching what this is saying? Repentance will always lead to a time of refreshing. So who doesn’t want season of refreshing in their life? Meaning… if you feel like you’re in a spot when you’re not feeling a season of refreshing, perhaps you should seek repentance in an area of your life.
You see… Repentance is not a negative thing. This verse clearly shows that repentance is a positive thing.
Technically repentance simply means to turn around… and go in a different direction. But that’s only half of it… because the scripture also says… after we repent, we must turn to God! You see… it’s not enough just to say you are going to stop a certain behavior. We need to take the next step and replace that behavior with a positive behavior by turning to God and his ways.
So when we say I want to repent from living my life on my own strength… that means I will replace that mentality with one that now looks to God to be my strength.
That’s essentially what happens when we become a Christian. Unfortunately, some people think that process of exchange happens only once-in-a-lifetime. But that’s simply not true, because Paul in his letter to the
Colossians says… Col 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him… ESV
The living Bible makes it even more clear… Col 2:5-7 And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day's problems; live in vital union with him. TLB
Meaning that in the same way we became a Christian… Through a spiritual exchange with God. That’s how we walk in sanctification. We now have to learn how to walk in this life… making daily spiritual exchanges. We need to learn how to trust God with every aspect of our lives.
For example… when we say we need to repent of lying… it means I am going to turn away from lying and replace it with telling the truth. When I say I am going to repent from gossiping or slandering someone… It means I am going to turn away from the act of gossiping and slandering and start talking positively and encouragingly about them.
To repent from stealing… means that I will stop stealing and now turn around and start giving to people. To repent of from being too controlling… means I will stop trying to control others and begin to learn how to empower them.
Now most people understand that’s what repentance means… but actually there’s more to it yet
During my time away last July… way before I even heard of the movie “War Room”…I just happen to find myself drawn to reading and studying Tim Keller’s book on prayer. An excellent book by the way… and well worth a read.
One of the things that so fascinating about his books is Tim Keller’s is a history buff… Who loves the quotes a lot of the Saints of the past. One of the quotes I found fascinating is the one he referenced Martin Luther with.
Those who remember their history… Martin Luther challenged the authorities of the Catholic church to debate his Ninety-Five Theses, which he nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517.
The first was “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ . . . willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”
At first glance this appears to be saying that Christians never make any progress, that they are always asking forgiveness for repeated failures. But actually, he was saying the opposite… namely that repentance is the way we make progress in the Christian life. It is the key to growing deeply and steadily into the character of Jesus.
In Luther’s view… the gospel was one of free justification… meaning that we are saved and accepted through Christ apart from any of our good works or efforts.
Unfortunately, back in those days… The majority of the church didn’t understand the freeness of grace, so in their mind… the purpose of our repentance was to appease God. This according to Luther…only lead to works and legalism… where one must perform outwardly as one was expected to… Yet the heart still being far away from God.
Of course when people began to hear the message of Luther… That one is saved by grace and grace alone. People got so excited about it, that it started a movement. But unfortunately, people in that movement began to take grace to another extreme… Where people totally lost sight of the costliness of that grace. That sin was a big deal… that required Father to make the ultimate sacrifice of sending his one and only son to die for us..
This of course left Luther with the dilemma because in Luther’s mind… both mistakes are spiritually deadly.
To lose our grip on the costliness of forgiveness will result in a superficial, perfunctory confession that does not lead to any real change of heart. There will be no life-change. They will all say the right words… but there will be no real change in their lives.
But then on the other side… to lose our grip on the freeness of forgiveness, leads to continued guilt, shame, and self-loathing… where there is no relief.
You see… When we aren’t sure that God loves us in Christ, then confession and repentance become a way of keeping on God’s good side… with expressions of sorrow that we hope impress him with our sincerity… and move him to take pity on us.
When a person approaches repentance that way… The repentance becomes an act of self-righteous. And in Luther’s opinion… That kind of repentance leads only to a forced compliance of the will, not a change of view, motivation, and heart.
Therefore, Luther denounced this kind of legalistic repentance as self-righteous because it is essentially an attempt to atone for our own sin. When one approaches repentance from this place…Luther thought their confession was not in Jesus’ name, but in our own name… because they are trying to earn God’s mercy through their own inner suffering of conscience.
But through the gospel, we learn that Jesus has suffered… for our sin. Therefore we don’t have to make ourselves suffer to merit God’s forgiveness. We simply receive the forgiveness earned by Christ.
The simple truth is… Jesus Christ paid for our sin. Sin’s condemnation can no longer fall on we who have repented and believed because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. That means that no sin can now bring us into condemnation… but it also means… that sin is so serious and grievous to God that Jesus had to die.
We must recognize both of these aspects of God’s grace or we will lapse into one or the other of two fatal errors. Either we will think forgiveness is easy for God to give, or we will doubt the reality and thoroughness of our pardon.
2. Our devotional life and prayers should lead us to a place of contentment!
“But I’ve learned that my contentment can’t come from you. Tony, I love you but I am his before I am yours and because I love Jesus, I am staying right here.” Elizabeth Jordan
In the movie… before Ms. Clara began to mentor her and teach her about prayer… Elizabeth was clearly trying to get her contentment from her marriage… and her family life… and even her job.
But that kind of contentment was always so short lived because it was completely dependent on how her sources were doing. If she and Tony were doing fine… then she was fine. Unfortunately, she and Tony weren’t doing find… and so she had no peace on the inside.
But that changed when she began to seek God through prayer and his word.
Phil 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
The word content: strong enough to need no aid or support; it means: sufficient; it means being independent of external circumstances; contented with one’s lot, with one’s means, through that might not be much.
Thus to be content… means to being happy or content with what one has, content with the circumstances in which one exists.'
Unfortunately… contentment has become a delusion in the American landscape today. Nevertheless… the drive for more in every arena has created a culture where nothing is ever good enough.
Therefore “more” has become the cultures mantra… More money. More status. More education. More busyness. More. More. More. Now obviously… not all things are bad things, but the adage “too much of a good thing” certainly applies here.
Think about it… we live in a country of abundance, yet we rarely come across a person we would actually describe as content.
So meeting Paul would have been an exception. He said… he had learned to be content in all things… because he now understands that… he can do everything through him (Speaking of Christ) who gives me strength.
In other words… he had to learn how to make what Jesus revealed and accomplished on the cross for him… his source. And the way he did this was… believe it or not… was through the process of repentance.
Going back to Tim Keller… he said that he found that the practices of the 18th century Methodist leaders George Whitefield and John Wesley to be very helpful in the regard.
On January 9, 1738, , George Whitefield wrote a letter to a friend where he laid out an order for regular repentance. (Supposedly He did his inventory at night.)
He wrote: God give me a deep humility and a burning love, a well-guided zeal and a single eye, and then let men and devils do their worst!" Here is one way to use this order in gospel-grounded repentance.
A. When it comes to… Deep humility (vs. pride)
Have I looked down on anyone? Have I been too stung by criticism? Have I felt snubbed and ignored?
If so… Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus until I sense a decreasing disdain towards others (since I am a sinner too).
Consider the free grace of Jesus until I sense a Decreasing pain over criticism (since I should not value human approval over God's love.) In light of his grace I can let go of the need to keep up a good image-it is too great a burden and now unnecessary.
Therefore continue to consider His free grace until I experience grateful, restful joy.
B. When it comes to… Burning love (vs. indifference)
Have I spoken or thought unkindly of anyone? Am I justifying myself by ridiculing (in my mind) someone else? Have I been impatient and irritable?
Have I been self-absorbed and indifferent and inattentive to people?
If so…Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus until there is a no coldness or unkindness within my heart (think of the sacrificial love of Christ for you and how patient he has been with you).
Consider his free grace until your heart begins to be filled with the same warmth and affection that God has showed you.
Remember God has been infinitely patient and attentive to you out of pure grace.
C. When it comes to… Wise courage (vs. anxiety)
Have I avoided people or tasks that I know I should face? Have I been anxious and worried? Have I failed to be circumspect or have I been rash and impulsive?
If so… Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus until there is no cowardly avoidance of hard things (Remembering that Jesus faced evil for me and that Jesus death proves God cares fore he and the he will watch over me).
It takes pride to be anxious - I am not wise enough to know how my life should go. Therefore I wil Consider his free grace until I experience calm thoughtfulness and strategic boldness.
D. When it comes to… Godly motivations (a 'single eye')
Am I doing what I am doing for God's glory and the good of others or am I being driven by fears, or a need for approval, or love of comfort and ease, or my need for control, or a hunger for approval and power, because of me 'fear of man?' Am I looking at anyone with envy?Am I giving in to any of even the first motions of lust or gluttony? Am I spending my time on urgent things rather than important things because of these inordinate desires?
If so… Repent like this: Consider the free grace of Jesus and how much he has blessed you in every way till your heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness.
Then Pray: "O Lord Jesus, make me happy enough in you to avoid sin and wise enough in you to avoid danger, that I may always do what is right in your sight, in your name I pray, Amen."
Lastly…
3. Discovering how to be contend in all things enables us to both ask for forgiveness and give it!
“I asked God to forgive me. I need you to forgive me. I don’t want you to quit on me, Liz.” Tony Jordan “I forgive you” Elizabeth Jordan
Here we are presented with three of the most powerful words uttered in the film… “I forgive you!” You see… without forgiveness, there can be no boldness, no confidence in person’s life. Without forgiveness, there can be no generosity in relationships.
Ms. Clara explained earlier in the film that no one deserves God’s grace. Nevertheless, we can be recipients of that grace if we just humble ourselves and put our complete trust in Christ.
As Elizabeth began to do that through prayer… she began to experience contentment in Christ! In other words… Elizabeth discovered that she needed to belong to Jesus before she belongs to Tony.
And it was that high view of God in her life… that enabled her to extend forgiveness to Tony. The same forgiveness that God had extended to her… she now was able to extend to Tony… which opened up the door for God to begin to heal their marriage.
I don’t know if you are catching this… but this is how all three of these components of prayer work together to transform a person’s life.
As a person begins to move in confession and repentance in their prayer life… they enter into a God centered contentment… that enables them to live differently and to be an instrument of forgiveness and healing in all their relationships!
Final thoughts… Now with all that being said… how is your inner life this morning? Are you content, are you free of anxiety and fear? Are you full of God’s peace? If not… please consider giving yourself to growing in your prayer life!
Because prayer is the key to everything! If you need to real change to happen in your life… prayer is the key. I you need more contentment in your life… prayer is the key. If you need healing in your relationships… prayer is the key!
Everything starts by you reaching out to God and connecting with him through prayer. Do you find yourself weary and longing for refreshment? If so… ask God to show you what area in your life needs some repentance and forgiveness… and then give yourself to God through prayer! Let’s pray…
OUTLINE
Prayer and the Transformed Life!
Part 4: War Room: The Power of Prayer
Rom 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
1. Confession and repentance is the foundation to change!
2. Our devotional life and prayers should lead us to a place of contentment!
3. Discovering how to be contend in all things enables us to both ask for forgiveness and give it!
Final thoughts: So have you discovered the secret of contentment… or do you still find your heart filled with fear and anxiety and pain and hurt? Do you find yourself weary and longing for refreshment? If so… then ask God to show you what area in your life needs some repentance and forgiveness and give yourself to God through prayer.
