When The Church Prays – part 3
“The Ultimate In Homeland Security”
Today, is Father’s Day “Happy Father’s Day!” I thought I’d start out today by sharing a few precious dad moments.. Moments that would only happen to a dad and only a dad would appreciate…
PRECIOUS DAD MOMENT #1
One night a wife found her husband standing over their newborn baby’s crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism. He would stand back, shake his head and say, "Amazing," while smiling from ear to ear.
Touched by his unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, her eyes glistened as she slipped her arms around him. "A penny for your thoughts," she whispered in his ear.
"Isn’t it amazing!" he replied. "When you take the time and really look close, how can anyone make a crib like that for only $45.99!"
PRECIOUS DAD MOMENT #2
As ham sandwiches go, it was perfection. A thick slab of ham, a fresh bun, crisp lettuce and plenty of expensive, light brown, gourmet mustard. The corners of my jaw were aching in anticipation,
I carried it to the picnic table in our backyard, picked it up with both hands but was stopped by my wife suddenly at my side. "Hold Johnny, (our six-week-old son), while I get my sandwich," she said.
I had him balanced between my left elbow and shoulder and was reaching again for the ham sandwich when I noticed a streak of mustard on my fingers. I love mustard. And I had no napkin. So I licked it off.
It was NOT mustard. No man ever put a baby down faster. It was the first and only time I have sprinted with my tongue protruding. With a washcloth in each hand I did the sort of routine shoeshine guys do, only I did it on my tongue.
Later my wife said, "Now you know why they call that mustard ’Poupon.’"
PRECIOUS DAD MOMENT #3
Children will surprise you writes Scott Taylor. A few years ago on a lazy Saturday morning my son Philip, then 5, invited himself into my bed. After about 5 minutes of intense tickling, wrestling and laughing, we collapsed together on the now coverless, pillowless bed. It was just a few seconds later that he raised his head from my chest, looked into my eyes, and said, "Dad, your the bestest Daddy in the whole wide world." And then, before I even had a chance to sample this precious morsel of parental affirmation he added, as he lay back down beside me, "And you’re a bugar-head!"
Mark Twain said, "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to the 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years."
Popular comedian/entertainer Bill Cosby wrote, "Now that my father is a grandfather he just can’t wait to give money to my kids. But when I was a kid and I asked him for 50 cents, he would tell me the story of his life. How he got up at 5 a.m. when he was 70-years-old and walked 23 miles to milk 90 cows. And the farmer for whom he worked had no bucket, so he had to squirt the milk into his little hand and then walk 8 miles to the nearest can. All for 5 cents. The result was...I never got my 50 cents.
"But now he tells my children every time he comes into the house, ’Well, let’s see how much money old Granddad has for his wonderful grandkids.’ And the minute they take money out of his hands I call them over to me and I snatch it away from them. BECAUSE THAT IS MY MONEY."
Here are some words that most dads have said at some time or another to their children.
This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.
Quiet. I’m watching the ball game.
Don’t forget to check the oil.
Bring back all the change
Okay who touched the thermostat
Where is the remote control
How should I know? Ask your mother.
Do I look like I’m not made out of money!
When I was your age I walked 5 miles to and from school each day and it was uphill both ways.
Who’s paying the bills around here, anyway?
Don’t put your feet on the furniture. Your mother will kill you
What do you mean turn on the heat – we sill can’t see our breathe – put on another coat
Get down before you kill yourself. On second thought, go ahead.
Quit playing with your food.
Hey – if they push you again knock the snot out of them
Be quiet! Can’t you see I’m trying to think!
Why? Because I said so!
If you don’t quit, that I’m going to call your mother
If you don’t tell mom neither will I
You better get that junk picked up before your mom comes in here.
Just wait till you have kids of your own.
I wasn’t asleep. I was just resting my eyes.
One father said to his teenage son, "Do you mind if I use the car tonight? I’m taking your mother out to eat and I would like to impress her."
Father said to his daughter, "What’s wrong, Mary? Usually you talk on the phone for hours. This time you only talked for 30 minutes. How come?"
Mary replied, "It was the wrong number."
A letter from a college student to his parents read, "Please send food packages! All they serve here is breakfast, lunch and dinner."
Another son wrote home to his dad. He said, "Dear Dad, Please let me hear from you more often, even if it’s only a five or a ten."
Fathers are interesting creatures.
Here are the TOP 10 THINGS YOU’LL NEVER HEAR DAD SAY
10. Well, how ’bout that? I’m lost! Looks like we’ll have to stop and ask for directions.
9. You know Pumpkin, now that you’re thirteen, you’ll be ready for unchaperoned car dates. Won’t that
be fun?
8. I noticed that all your friends have a certain hostile attitude. I like that.
7. Here’s a credit card and the keys to my new car. GO CRAZY!!
6. What do you mean you wanna play football? Figure skating’s not good enough for you, son?
5. Your mother and I are going away for the weekend. You might want to consider throwing a party.
4. Well, I don’t know what’s wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies--ya know--
that makes it run or something. Just have it towed to a mechanic and pay whatever he asks.
3. No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring. Now quit your belly-aching, and let’s
go to the mall.
2. Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.
1. What do I want for my birthday? Aahh, don’t worry about that. It’s no big deal.
(Okay, they might say it. But they don’t mean it)
Did you hear about the children who begged their parents for a hamster and after the usual fervent vows that they alone would care for it, they got one. They named it Danny. Two months later, when mom found herself responsible for cleaning and feeding the creature, she located a prospective new home for it. The children took the news of Danny’s imminent departure quite well, though one of them remarked, “He’s been around here a long time—we’ll miss him.” “Yes,” mom replied, “But he’s too much work for one person, and since I’m that one person, I say he goes.” Another child offered, “Well, maybe if he wouldn’t eat so much and wouldn’t be so messy, we could keep him.” But mom was firm. “Its time to take Danny to his new home now,: she insisted. “Go and get his cage.” With one voice and in tearful outrage the children shouted, “Danny? We thought you said, Daddy!”
Unfortunately many in society because dads have abdicated their position wonder why we even need dads around any way. THIS – morning I want to destroy that attitude. I want all dads to both understand and embrace what God has placed them here to do… The Title for my message today is, “Prayer - The Ultimate In Homeland Security.”
NOW – this time last year the term homeland security had no meaning whatsoever. But – all that changed on 911… The devastation that we saw that day as 2 jet airliners brought down the twin towers in New York City and another plane crashed into the Pentagon killing thousands of people – brought the concept of homeland security to the forefront.
Not long after 911 President Bush created a new cabinet position and appointed Tom Ridge as head of homeland security. America has an enemy – an enemy the for the most part remains hidden in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to strike. AND - if you have been following this war on terrorism you have heard 2 things get a lot of play recently… ONE - the arrest of a few people who were planning on letting off ‘a dirty bomb’ somewhere in America – (a dirty bomb is a conventional bomb that is packed with radioactive material…) AND – the second thing that is getting a lot of play (and causing a little ruckus up in DC) is the proposal of President Bush to created a new department – the Department of Homeland Security.
AND – understand this protecting of our homeland is NOT cheap – the price tag for Homeland security for 2002 is 19.5 billion and is 37.7 billion for the year 2003.
In the introduction to President Bush’ official policy on the war on terrorism called, “Securing The Homeland and Strengthening The Nation we read;
Our Nation learned a painful lesson on September 11. American soil is not immune to evil or cold-blooded enemies capable of unprecedented acts of mass murder and terror. The worst of these enemies – and target number one in our war on terrorism – is the terrorist network Al Qaeda. Yet the threat to America is not limited to Al Qaeda – or to suicide hijackings of commercial aircraft. As we learned on October 4, 2001, a Florida man named Robert Stevens became the first known victim of an unprecedented act of biological terrorism.
A new wave of terrorism, involving new weapons, looms in America’s future. It is a challenge unlike any ever faced by our Nation. But we are not daunted. We possess the resources and the determination to defeat our enemies and work to secure our homeland against the threats they pose.
Today’s terrorists can strike at any place, at any time, and with a wide variety of weapons. The terrorist threat to America takes many forms, has many places to hide, and is often invisible. We can never be sure that we have defeated all of our terrorist enemies, and therefore we can never again allow ourselves to become overconfident about the security of our homeland.
The need for homeland security, is not tied to any specific terrorist threat. Instead, the need for homeland security is tied to the underlying vulnerability of American society and the fact that we can never be sure when or where the next terrorist conspiracy against us will emerge. The events of September 11 were a harsh wake-up call to all citizens, revealing to us the danger we face. Not since World War II have our American values and our way of life been so threatened. The country is now at war, and securing the homeland is a national priority.
LISTEN – when the homeland is threatened it is time for the leaders to step up to the plate. It is time for them to protect their people – it is time for them to use the best resources that they have at their disposal…
If you have your bibles – turn to 2 Chronicles 20… I want us to read a passage that will show us what a leader of Israel did when his homeland was threatened….I want us to see WHAT, the most powerful resource we have to protect our homeland, IS…
READ – 2 Chronicles 20:1-17
QUESTION – what did Jehoshaphat do when his homeland was threatened? He prayed!
We are in our 3rd week in a series on prayer…
Prayer is - coming into the presence of God; it is entering the throne room of the KING of kings and LORD of lords; it is communicating with the creator of the world; it is bringing our questions to the one who has the answers; it is connecting our lives with the ALL knowing, ALL present – and ALL powerful KING of kings… Prayer is coming near to God…
I love what Moses told the people in Dt 4:7; “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way our Lord is near us whenever we pray to him…”
AND – prayer can do anything… BECAUSE, Our God can do anything; “WITH God all things are possible.” Mt 19:26
YES – prayer can do anything but we have to ASK….
AND Listen when the church prays STUFF happens, AWESOME stuff… When the church prays;
We become united
We receive divine guidance in important kingdom decisions
We unleash the power of God
The word of God comes alive
People get saved
AND – when the church prays – the church prays more…
OKAY - Being father’s day – what I wanted to do this morning was to try to find a way to combine the two…prayer & dads…. AND – to be honest I really struggled with this. BUT – on Wednesday morning I think I came up with what God wants me to talk about today…
UNDERSTAND – America is not the first homeland to be threatened by an enemy. We have been talking all of 2002 about our enemy. About an enemy that has declared war on the church and on your home. An enemy that scripture says is like a lion hiding in the thicket just want for the right moment and the right person to attack. An enemy who like, America’s enemy is usually unseen and hidden… An enemy that has great power and will stop at nothing less then totally destroying us… NO – America is not the first homeland to be threatened…
AND - President Bush is not the first to have a homeland security plan. LISTEN- God has always had a homeland security plan… AND - a major component of the plan is dads (is men), and not just any kind of men - BUT praying men…men who are spiritual leaders, spiritual warriors…
EM Bounds in talking about the great leaders of the past like Paul says;
“They were leaders for God because they were mighty in prayer. They were not leaders because of brilliancy in thought, nor because of the exhaustless resources, their magnificent culture, or their natural endowment; but they were leaders because by the power of prayer, the command the power of God…
QUESTION????
Do our homes need protection?
Do our kids face any dangers?
Are there forces out there that seek to hurt our kids?
To destroy them?
To lead them astray?
To steal away – their innocence? Purity? Self worth? Hope? Value? Future? Freedom?
NOW – I spent quite a bit of time digging through the Scripture and I came up with 6 dads who really were praying dads… AND it is my pray the we can learn something from them… About both, protecting our homes… and praying for our kids…
Dad’s UNDERSTAND, Prayer is the battle – to pray is to go to war… To pray is to engage the ALL POWERFUL GOD – to engage His heavenly army… AND - if we really begin to pray these prayers for our kids, it will make a difference. AND LISTEN – you must ‘really’ believe it does – BECAUSE if you don’t, you won’t really pray… “Of course I know that I need to pray about it BUT THEN - what am I going to do to really take care of it?”
LISTEN - the things that these dads brought to God – on behalf of their kids, are the same things that we need to bring before God on behalf of our kids. NEVER – forget that prayer is powerful & effective…
CHECKOUT – James 5:16-18;
“…the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for 3 ½ years. Again, he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced it’s crops.”
That’s awesome – a man just like us, just like me, just like you, prays… AND it does not rain in the land for 3 ½ years… AND then he prays and the skies open up. THINK about that. It really happened… One man just like you and me – now that’s some serious power. BUT – did you catch the prereq? CIRCLE; “a righteous man…”
LISTEN – for your prayers to be effective you must be righteous. To be righteous means – to be right with God. AND – when we are not right with God he does not hear our prayers..
“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers I will not listen.” Is 1:15
“When I called, they did not listen; so when they called I would listen, says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 7:13
QUESTION – how do we get right with God?
1) By coming to Christ
2) By obeying Christ (living as a Christian should)
OKAY – now that we clarified the conditions for making our prayers powerful and effective… Let’s take a look at some dads and see what they prayed for. The first dad I want to look at is Job;
Job; Pray For Their Purity
From Job we learn that we should pray for the purity of our kids…
Read; Job 1:1-5
“There was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.”
Pretty good qualities for us to have as well…These are qualities of a righteous man. helps our prayers to be powerful & effective.
“He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned seven thousand sheep, 3,00 camels 500 teams of oxen and 500 female donkeys, and he employed many servants. He was in fact, the richest person in that entire area. Every year when Job’s sons had birthdays, they invited their brothers and sisters to join them for a celebration. On these occasions they would get together to et and drink. When these celebrations ended and sometimes they lasted several days – Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular practice.”
CIRCLE: “Purify his children” “early in the morning” “regular practice”
QUESTION – is their reason to be concerned about the purity of our kids…?
MAN – let me tell you Satan is really after the purity of your kids… of you sons and daughters. LISTEN – on a daily basis they face an unrelenting onslaught of temptation, through music, television, movies, the internet and their peers…
Like Job – on a regular basis we need to rise up early each morning (JOB found time and I am sure he was a ‘busy’ man) – Every morning we need to pray that God will protect their purity; that he will keep images and people that would steal that purity away… If our kids our in a relationship we need to pray that it will be pure in the eyes of God (NOT in the eyes of the world, LISTEN – for the most part our world has bought former president Bill Clinton’s definition of purity – which is not at all in line with God’s definition; “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity..” Eph 5:3).
We need to Pray that our kids will desire to keep their purity and realize that it is Satan who is trying to steal it away… We need to pray that God will surround then with other kids who also desire purity…
AND – we need to pray that they understand that there is always forgiveness if they fail from God and from us…
QUESTION – if you made a regular practice of praying for the purity of your kids – do you think it would make a difference…? “The pray of a righteous man is power and effective…”
Abraham; Pray For Their Future Spouse
The NEXT dad that I want to look at is Abraham… AND Abraham teaches us to pray for our son and our daughter’s future spouse.
In Genesis chapter 24 we see Abraham who at the time was a very old man, doing something that is an awesome example for dads today. LISTEN – Abraham was living in a pretty bad neighborhood and he did not want his son Isaac to marry any of the women there because they were not godly. SO – he prayed that God would find a wife for Isaac - far away from there, back at his home town. YOU SEE – there Abraham knew, would be a godly woman. AND NOT – only did Abraham pray about this BUT he sent a servant there to bring back a wife for Isaac. It’s a beautiful story – God answered that prayer and Isaac & Rebekah are married…
QUESTION – do you pray for the your son’s future wife? For you daughters future husband? Do think that this is a prayer worth praying? Do you know that the person they will one day marry is more than likely alive right now?
LISTEN – we need to pray that our kids will marry godly people. We need to pray that they have a strong & unyielding desire to marry someone who loves Jesus and His Church. Who believes the truth of the bible. We need to pray that they will marry people that will ‘complete’ them. That will help them become, all that God desires them to be. That will love them with God’s kind of love…
We also need to pray for their future husband or wife – that God protects them, protects their purity, protects them from all harm, that they are growing each day in the knowledge of and love for God…
QUESTION – parents are you praying for your children’s future spouse? WILL – you start to pray this prayer on a regular basis? DO YOU THINK – that it would make a difference.?
“the prayer of a righteous man is powerful & effective…”
AND – also like Abraham are you, will you – take what ever steps you can to make sure that they do.
Jacob; Pray For God To Bless Their Future
THE NEXT DAD – I want us to look at is Jacob and teaches us that we should pray that God will bless the future of our sons and daughters…
In Genesis chapter 48; Jacob like Abraham is very old and he gathers around him His son Joseph and His 2 grandsons – Ephraim & Manasseh… AND – he prays the following pray…
“May God, the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life, and the angel who has kept me from harm – may he bless these boys. May they preserve my name and the names of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac. And may they become a mighty nation.” (15,16)
LISTEN – like Jacob we need to pray that God will bless our children. That he will be with them their whole life as their shepherd and as their angel to kept them from all harm… AND that he will bless their future and make it great for Him…
QUESTION – if you prayed for God to bless the future of your son and daughter – do you think it would make any difference? “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective…”
David; Pray For Their Desire To Obey God
THE NEXT DAD – that I want to look at is David – and in 1 Chronicles 29; David is very old and he prays for His son Solomon…
READ verse 10-20
“Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, decrees and principles, and to build this Temple, for which I have made all these preparations” (19)
LISTEN – we need to pray that our children will have a strong, a consuming desire to obey ALL the commands of God… and to be actively involved in building His church…
WHY? Because their obedience is how Jesus said they show their love for HIM…
Why? Because God’s word will light their path and led them on the road to true life
Why? Bcause obeying God’s word will keep them from all the crap that happens when they don’t
Why? Because obeying God’s word WILL make them successful
“Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. Study the book of the law continually. Mediate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed…Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
QUESTION – do you believe that praying for you son and daughters to have a wholehearted desire to obey all of God’s word – would make any difference?
Paul; Pray His Ephesians’ Prayer For Them
THE NEXT DAD – is Paul. QUESTION – was Paul a dad? NOW – I’m pretty sure he was not one biologically – BUT – he certainly was one spiritually.. Paul writes in 1 Cor 4:15;
“I became your Father in Christ Jesus when I preached the good news to you.”
LISTEN – Paul saw himself – as dad, as father to every believer that he had contact with and influence over.. AND Prayed for them constantly… HERE – is some of what Paul prayed for His children… IF – you’ve been doing the 40 days of prayer these verse will be very familiar to you….
“Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, I have never stopped thanking God for you I PRAY for you constantly, asking God, the glorious father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so you might grow in your knowledge of God. I PRAY that your hearts will be flooded with the light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given his people. I PRAY that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead….” (1:15-20)
“When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I PRAY that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. And I PRAY that Christ will be more and more home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would dare to ask or hope…”
QUESTION – do you believe that if YOU prayed that prayer for you physical and spiritual children that it would make any difference at all…? “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective…”
Solomon – Pray For Ourselves…
THE LAST DAD – that I want to look at is Solomon… Who was the father to the great nation of Israel. In 1 Kings chapter 3 we read;
“O Lord my God, now you have made me king instead of my father David, but I am like a child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am among your own chosen people, a nation so great they are too numerous to count! GIVE ME an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great nation of yours. The Lord was pleased and was glad that he had asked for wisdom. So God replied… ‘I will GIVE you what you asked for!.” (7-12)
DADS – the tasked of fatherhood of manhood IS to big for us – who is able by himself to do it… No one… We need to be connect to God.. We need to pray for ourselves…
