MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
ILL. In Tony Campolo’s book, "The Kingdom of God Is a Party," he tells of an event that took place when he visited Hawaii on a speaking tour.
If you’ve ever flown to the Hawaiian Islands you know that the first couple of days are tough because you’re trying to adjust to the time change. You auto-matically wake up about 1 or 2 a.m. their time because it’s about 6 or 7 a.m. back here. And that’s exactly what happened to him.
He woke up very early his first morning there & ended up going out on the downtown streets of Honolulu, looking for a restaurant that was open where he could get a cup of coffee that early in the morning.
He finally found what he called a “greasy spoon” restaurant, went in & saw that he was the only customer there. As he sat down at the counter, a rather large fellow came out of the kitchen & asked what he wanted.
Tony ordered a cup of coffee & a donut. So the guy went back into the kitchen & came out with a sad looking donut & a cup of very hot coffee. Tony slowly sipped his coffee & ate his donut.
As he was doing so, in walked 9 prostitutes off the streets of Honolulu. And one of them sat down next to him. As she was sitting there, talking to the girl next to her, she said, "Well, tomorrow is my birthday."
The other girl said, "So what, Agnes? What do you expect from me, a party or something? What do you think I’m going to do, bake you a cake?"
Agnes said, "I don’t expect anything. No one has ever thrown me a birthday party, & I’ve never ever had a birthday cake. I was just telling you, that’s all. Tomorrow is my birthday."
The conversation soon ended, & all the girls left. Tony sat there for a moment, & he recalls, "Every once in a while you get a good idea."
He turned to the guy behind the counter, whose name was Harry, & asked, "Harry, do those girls come in every night about this time?" "Every night," Harry answered. "Well, will Agnes be back tomorrow night?" "Yeah, she’ll be back."
He said, "I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we throw a birthday party for Agnes?" Harry answered, "That’s a great idea. Let’s do it!" Tony said, "I’ll buy the streamers & get a sign that says, ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes,’ & we’ll buy her a cake."
"No," Harry said. "I’ll bake the cake." And they got busy making their plans. Finally, Tony said, "I’ll be back at 2:30 tomorrow morning."
When 2:30 came, Tony was back with all the streamers, balloons, & the sign. Meanwhile, Harry had baked the cake & spread the word, & there were 30 prostitutes there, ready to have a birthday party for Agnes.
Tony writes, "We were all there in this restaurant, 30 prostitutes, Harry & me." We had just gotten the streamers up, balloons inflated, & everything ready, when in walked Agnes & her friends. And as she did, the whole group burst into a chorus of "Happy Birthday, Happy birthday to you."
Agnes was so overwhelmed that she could hardly move. Then here came Harry with the birthday cake with all the candles lit. "Come on, Agnes," he said, "blow them out before they melt." But she didn’t do a thing.
Finally, Harry said, "If you don’t blow them out, I’ll do it," & he did. Then he handed her a knife & said, "Here, for crying out loud, cut it so we can all have a piece of cake." But Agnes just stood there looking at the cake.
Finally she said, "Do you suppose it would be all right if we didn’t cut the cake tonight? Do you think I could just take it home & look at it for a while? I promise I’ll bring it back tomorrow night & we can all have a piece then. But tonight I’d just like to keep it if it’s all right."
Everyone agreed that it would be okay. So Agnes left, carrying her cake as though it was a priceless treasure.
Tony said that after she left there was total silence in the room. "Here were all these prostitutes, Harry & me," he said, "& since I had been acting as the M.C. the next move seemed to be mine."
So I said, "Let’s pray. Then I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would get straightened out. I prayed that she would really have a happy birthday.”
"After I finished, Harry grabbed me by the shoulder & said, ‘You didn’t tell me you was a preacher.’ I said, ‘I’m not, Harry. I’m just a Christian & I just go to church.’"
Harry said, "What kind of a church do you go to?" Tony said, "I go to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:00 in the morning." "No you don’t," said Harry. "There ain’t no church like that. If there was, I’d go to it, too."
A. That’s quite a story, isn’t it? But let me ask you, “Is it right for a Christian to throw a party for a prostitute? Is it appropriate to pray for her to have a “happy birthday”?
Some might wonder about that. But it certainly is appropriate to pray for her salvation & for her life to be straightened out. When people are lost we must be diligent in praying for them & their relationship with God.
B. But how do we pray for Christian people who are going through difficulties in life? The natural response when we see someone who is sick, or going through tough times, or family difficulties is to say, "We’re praying for you."
But have you ever found yourself wondering, “What is the best thing to pray for in this situation?” Sometimes it is hard to know just what to pray. And doubts can arise when we pray earnestly, & we don’t get the answers that we want.
Sometimes we pray for people who are sick, & they don’t get better. Or we pray for a marriage to be healed, & the couple gets a divorce. Or we pray for a couple to have a healthy child, & a handicapped child is born. I can’t give you any easy answers as to why this happens.
C. But what I don’t know about prayer doesn’t discourage me, because the way I’ve seen prayers answered, & the way lives have been changed as a result of prayer, gives me so much encouragement that I’m absolutely convinced the most important thing we can do in times of difficulty is to pray.
Prayer puts us in touch with God. And it’s important for us to come to God & express our needs & the deepest longings of our hearts.
D. So with that in mind, look with me at 2 Corinthians 12:7 10 where the Apostle Paul speaks about his "thorn in the flesh."
He says, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ‘But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:7-10)
Now here is the situation: Paul had just had an amazing spiritual experience. But there is a danger in spiritual experiences. And that is of becoming conceited, of beginning to think that you’re more spiritual or important than anybody else.
So the Bible tells us that God gives Paul what he calls a "thorn in the flesh." We don’t know what it was, but it was something that caused Paul physical pain & anguish. In fact, it was so bad that 3 times Paul prays for God to take it away. And 3 times God answers, "No."
Then He tells Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect (or obvious) in weakness." So Paul learns the lesson & accepts the grace of God & recognizes that it is sufficient to see him through.
APPL. With Paul’s example before us, maybe the question we should be asking is, "When bad things happen, for what should we, as God’s people, pray?"
I. SOME OBVIOUS ANSWERS
Of course there are some obvious answers to that question. We need to be asking for God’s presence & strength in our daily lives through the Holy Spirit.
We need to be praying that it is God’s will that is done, & not ours.
And of course, our prayers should be for those around us, & the impact that our problems may be having upon them. We need to be concerned about more than just our own needs & trials.
II. IT IS ALL RIGHT TO PRAY TO ESCAPE SUFFERING
Another thing we learn from Paul is that it is all right to pray to escape suffering. Paul prayed for an end to his suffering. And so did Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
If you’re sick, it’s legitimate to ask God to heal you. If you’re having difficulty in life, whatever it might be, it’s perfectly all right to pray that God will take it away. Sometimes He does, & sometimes He doesn’t, & we don’t always understand why.
But we’re still to trust Him. Paul did, & out of his own experience he was able to write that great passage in Romans proclaiming, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
III. WE OUGHT ALSO TO PRAY THAT OUR SUFFERING NOT BE WASTED
A. But when we do suffer, I think we ought to pray that our suffering will not be wasted, that it will be used to bring glory to God, & that we gain the victory over it through the strength that God gives us.
I think that is what happened in this passage with Paul. Paul said, "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh." A strange gift, isn’t it?
But every once in a while, God allows negative things in life for a reason. In this particular situation Paul tells us that it was to keep him humble. He didn’t resign himself to it, but he accepted it as something that God had given him for a reason.
B. Paul prayed, & then he waited on a word from God. "Three times," he said, "I prayed to God, ‘Take this thorn away. Please God, heal me. Take away the hurt & pain.’" Three times heaven was silent. Three times there was no answer from God.
You’ve experienced that frustration, haven’t you? And it is difficult to keep the level of faith you know you should have when it seems heaven is not responding.
But Paul waited, & that is exactly what the scriptures teach us to do. "Wait on God, & keep on praying."
Finally the silence was broken. God spoke to him & said, "My grace is sufficient for you." He didn’t take away the thorn. He just gave Paul enough grace to be able to put up with it.
"Then," Paul said, "I suddenly realized that it’s not my strength that God wants - it is me, just as I am, trusting my all to Him.” Listen again to Paul’s words:
"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
ILL. Tony Campolo tells about another time that he drove to Valley Forge, PA, where he was to be the featured speaker at the college there.
A few minutes before he was to speak several men took him into a back room & began to pray for him, that God would bless him & use his speech to accomplish His will.
While they were praying, one man also prayed, "And Lord, about Burt Harris. Lord, Burt Harris needs you badly. He lives in that trailer down the street & he is considering leaving his wife & family. Lord, if you could just get through to Burt Harris...that would be great. Please, Lord.” And then he went on with his prayer.
Listening as the man prayed, Tony thought, "It’s strange that he should pray that here.” Soon the prayers were finished & Tony went out & made his speech to what proved to be a very appreciative audience.
After finishing, Tony got into his car & started toward home. But just at the edge of town he came upon a hitchhiker. He said that he doesn’t usually pick up hitchhikers, but for some reason he decided to pull over & pick the man up.
The man got into the car, & as they headed toward the highway Tony asked his name. The man said, "Burt Harris".
Immediately, Tony stopped the car, turned it around & headed the opposite direction. The man stared at him & said, "What are you doing?” Tony said, "I am taking you back to your wife & family whom you are trying to leave.”
The man turned white! He never said another word - just sat speechless as Tony drove him straight to his trailer. At that, the man asked, "How do you know where I live?” Tony answered, "God told me.” (In a way He really had.)
Tony ended the story, saying, "I took this guy inside his home & God did the rest. The family & marriage was restored."
Wow! What a story. And it’s true, absolutely true!
CONCL. Now let’s go back & review what we have learned today from the apostle Paul. We have learned that we need to be asking for God’s presence & strength in our daily lives, for His Holy Spirit to be working within us.
We need to be praying for God’s will to be done, & not ours. We need to be concerned about more than just our own needs & trials, but also about those who are around us.
At the same time, we also learned that it is all right to pray for God to heal us, to end our suffering, to take away our difficulties, as long as we pray like Jesus, “Not my will, but yours be done” & really mean it!
And if we do suffer, Paul teaches us that we ought to pray that our suffering will not be wasted, that it will be used to bring glory to God, & that we will gain the victory over it through the strength that God gives us each day.
INVITATION:
