I love technology…especially when it works. I am some what technologically challenged. That means my 11 year old has to program the DVD player for me and my 5 year old has to hook up the video games. So imagine my surprise when I arrive at BCC and I am presented with my very own cell phone. I still only have one phone number programmed in it (my home phone) and often have to have my wife show me how to retrieve messages
In fact raise your hand if you own a cell phone. Some of you have one of those cool types that get internet access, play games, show sports scores and fix breakfast twice a week. Raise them again if you have it with you right now. Raise you hand if its on and your hoping to get a call.
I have this Pollyanna view of life where driving, eating a meal with friends and exercising were meant to be phone free time.
In spite of my technology limitations one thing I have learned about cell phones is the importance of “bars”. You know what I’m talking about. Those little bars that show up in the corner telling you how strong your reception is. From my thorough research I have determined that 2 bars are better than 1 and 4 is even better. In fact the cell phone company Cingular markets itself as Raising the Bar.
This morning I want us to talk about how we can raise the bar in our prayer life. To help us raise the bar I want us to take a look at three dangerous prayers from the life of Christ. These prayers are dangerous because they are a serious threat to a lazy boy spiritual life. They will demand that we get out of our chairs and actively engage for Christ.
Some of us, especially us non-military folks, recoil at the idea of danger. But danger is not necessarily a bad thing. Who among us couldn’t stand a little more excitement in our spiritual journey? Imagine the adrenaline rush of experiencing God at work in your life. Think about the thrill of seeing yourself in the middle of God’s huddle playing for big time stakes. I want to invite you on a bungee-jumping, sky diving, mountain climbing prayer adventure.
As we begin let’s establish a foundational truth regarding prayer: Men and women, I want you to know that God will always…and I mean always, take your call. Do you realize that when you turn your heart and mind toward God He turns His full attention on you? I don’t fully understand how God can do that will millions of people at a time but the Bible tells me He can. When I pray I am truly having a conversation with God Himself. Not an angel. Not some intermediary person…but God. I get all of God talking to me.
So as we look at these dangerous prayers allow me to dispel your fear that God will not respond to you or that God is too busy for you or that God will give you only cursory attention. If you don’t believe that then listen for the next few minutes, choose a prayer and give God a try.
Dangerous Prayer #1:
Send Me to the world. John 17:13-19.
I was originally going to use the catch phrase, “Lord help us to be in the world but not of the world.” There is certainly truth in that idea but then I continued to think about what Jesus said. I think the emphasis of His prayer was more aggressive than we generally think about it. I believe Jesus was praying that we would aggressively engage our world with the person and message of Christ and in the process not become tainted by it and ensnared by our enemy the devil.
I find it interesting that so many Christ-followers today seek to isolate them selves from the world. We often take great pride in creating fortresses that keep the world out and the righteous in. Yet Christ prays that His followers would be out among the world representing Him. In fact in verse 18 Christ prays “As You, (the heaven Father) sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”
Now I am not suggesting that we embrace the ways, lies and sins of the world. Jesus said in verse 16 that we are not part of the world. We are not to embrace the life perspective of the world. Christ then stated in verse 17 that the primary way we live in the world without becoming like the world is by having our lives saturated in God’s Word. We are to be like fully saturated sponges swimming in the pool of life. We enter the world already saturated with Christ and His word so that our lives cannot absorb the things of the world.
So here is what I suggesting about this prayer. I would challenge us to replace our fortresses with armor. Instead of hunkering down we need to put on our Kevlar body armor described in Ephesians 6 and engage the enemy. Our commander, Jesus Christ, was sent to battle by His general, the Father. Now our commander is sending us to battle. So what does the battle look like? What is the world like that Christ is sending us into?
In the book of 1 John the apostle John gives us a nifty little description.
1 John 2:15-17. The world is the cravings of sinful people, the lust of the eyes and the follow-up boastings about what they have and what they have done. The world are those things and people that seek to seduce us to crave physical fulfillment apart from God’s plan and lust after things we do not need. And then after we have indulged our cravings and lust, the world demands that we boast about it from the rooftops.
The world is that person who is attempting to seduce you away from your mate. The world is the message behind the internet site that seeks to persuade you that their car or dress or video game or gadget will make you better than everyone else as well as content and happy. The world is that quite voice that whispers,
• “Don’t ruin the dinner by bringing God up.”
• “Yeah what that guy is saying is wrong but you’ll only embarrass yourself if you speak up.”
• “Don’t drive another friend away with all your God talk.”
The world is that subtle attraction to accept the belief that humankind is inherently good, that right and wrong is situational and that God is not really involved in our lives…if God exists at all.
John goes on to tell us that the world is the devil’s club house where the entry fee is hostility toward God. The world is about darkness that seeks to blind people to their spiritual fallenness and create a world vacant of color. To pray, “Send me into the world Lord” is to proactively seek opportunities to paint vivid images of God for people. It means adding color to gray lives consumed by sin. It means bringing light to people wandering in darkness.
So if you want to live on the edge, then ask God to send you to your friends, co-workers and neighbors as a torchbearer of the gospel. Ask God to give you the courage to speak hope into the life of a broken friend. Pray that God would open the door for you to serve your neighbor in the name of Christ. Petition God to give you the opportunity to speak truth to a discouraged co-worker. In fact just pray a version of Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Lord, send me into the harvest field.”
I want us to return to this prayer of Jesus in a moment but first let’s fast forward a bit to another time Jesus prayed. Let’s visit with Christ in the garden as He talks with His father about His fast approaching death. Read Matthew 26:36-44.
The second dangerous prayer is this.
Dangerous Prayer #2:
As You Will Lord. Matthew 26:39,42,44
This passage describes Jesus words just hours before His crucifixion. Jesus takes a few of His followers, heads out to a local garden and engages the Father in powerful dialogue. The cup Jesus is asking to be set aside speaks to His fast approaching crucifixion, the impending separation He will experience from His father and the burden of experiencing the full weight of sin for all humankind.
Listen to the way the writer Andrew Murray describes the scene.
“First the Father offers His Well-beloved the cup of wrath. Second, the Son, Who is always so obedient, shrinks back and implores that He may not have to drink it. Third, the Father does not grant the Son His request, but still gives the cup. And last, the Son yields His will, is content that His will not be done and goes out to Calvary to drink the cup.”
With Christ in the School of Prayer, Page 210
Three times Christ prayed to the Father, “As you will”. What an incredible example of submission and yieldedness. Christ yielded His will to that of His Father and endured the full consequences of His submission.
In the movie “Bruce Almighty” Jim Carrey plays a reporter down on his luck. As his life falls apart he begins to blame God and finally states that he could do a better job than God. So God, Morgan Freeman, decides to let Bruce play God for a time. At first Bruce loves being God then it becomes frustrating and then…well let’s watch.
As I watch that video and consider my life I see some similarities.
1. There are fallen times in my life when I really want MY WILL TO BE DONE! Days when I want to play God and determine what is best for me. Days when selfishness ties a leash around my heart and I follow like a little puppy. Those days demand repentance.
2. Sometimes I try to negotiate my prayers with God to get my way. I massage “As you will” to “whatever You will” as a subtle means of excusing myself from taking action. “As you will” means I understand what God is calling me to be or do and that I will obey that command. “Whatever You will” is a default to passively accept whatever comes and to push responsibility away.
Another way I adapt this prayer is to add one little word to the phrase, “As you will IF…” This transitions prayer from one of submission to God’s authority and commands to one of negotiating conditions. This makes prayer a business agreement that seeks the mutual benefit of both parties.
• God, I will give my money to the church if you will give me that promotion I so deserve.
• God, I will pray with my wife if you will make her do what I want.
• God, I will share a verse with my friend if you will promise they won’t laugh at me.
Authentic prayer means ending manipulation and negotiations.
3. When I finally say “As You Will Lord” I experience freedom. Some years ago I was in a job I really did not like. I didn’t get along very well with my boss and felt like I was being held back when I could do more. For months I pleaded with God to take me out of this job and put me in a place where I could really do something for Him. I remember distinctly a cold day in January praying once again that God would rescue me from this job. In the midst of my desperation God broke in and said, “I put you in this job. When are you going to submit to ME?” In essence He said, “Mark, when are you going to say “As You Will Lord.” That day I declared my submission to Christ and yielded the job to Him. Every January after that I would go back to God and say, “As you will Lord. Is now the time?” And for two years He said NO. The third year He said, “Now is the time I have something special prepared for you.”
Men and women, where in your life is God asking you to say, “As you will Lord”? Where do you need to quit fighting God and submit? Maybe you need to yield your pride and self-sufficient spirit to Christ. Maybe you need to yield a relationship to Christ and end the manipulations. Maybe you need to yield your finances and co-dependency on work to Christ and start spending more time with your family. Maybe you need to yield to Christ and go on that mission trip or teach that class or invite that neighbor to church. You fill in the blank…”Lord, as you will in…”
Send Me and As You Will are dangerous prayers. Let’s consider one more dangerous prayer that will raise the bar in our prayer life. Turn back to John 17 and let’s read verses 20-23. The third dangerous prayer is.
Dangerous Prayer #3: Lord Unite Us: John 17:20-23
If we plan to live on the edge spiritually, we are going to need the support of one another. It is challenging for a Christ-follower to influence their world while remaining unblemished by it and to submit whole-heartedly to Christ ALONE. So Christ prayed for His followers to follow Him in unity. I believe these verses speak to the corporate unity of God’s church worldwide and unity within the local body. We can’t do a lot about worldwide unity but we can be united at BCC.
The pattern for the unity of believers is unlike anything else on earth. It is nothing less than the unity of the Father and Son. It is not merely a unity of organization, purpose, feeling, or affection. It is a unity of people. Christ-followers are drawn to one another because they are drawn to a common center, Jesus Christ Himself.
It’s as if every one of us in the church were a piece of crystal in a beautiful chandelier that God is making. And up at the top of that chandelier are Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three lights in one shining love one toward the other. And every one of us catches a little fragment of that light, and every one of us reflects it and breaks it up, reflecting it to one another, so that when the world looks at us it sees shimmering there the unexplainable unity and love of God in His church. That’s the intention of Jesus Christ for His church.
The impact of a unified church is that the world believes God the Father sent Christ the Son so "that the world may believe." The visible unity of believers will act as a mirror of the divinity of Jesus Christ. The sight of united disciples will convince the world of the truth of Jesus’ message and mission. John 13:35 says: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
We live in world of disunity. We find disunity everywhere from our homes, our families, our work places, in local, state and national government. Thus we can imagine the power of Christ-followers standing in unity as we live in the world and submit to God. The world is so disunited that a unified church compels the world to confess that God is at work among us.
So next time one of us is tempted to criticize a fellow Christ-follower let’s remember our commitment to unity and hold our tongue. When you see someone attempting to serve Christ but not doing it your way, let’s rejoice rather than become bitter. And when someone in our body really messes up their lives, let’s forgive them rather than judge them.
In May 2003 mountain climber Aron Ralston set out on a climbing adventure in the mountains of Utah. Maybe you remember his story. While climbing an 800 pound boulder rolled onto his armed and pinned him on the side of the mountain. He was forced to cut off his arm just below the elbow in order to save himself. Our country hailed his courage and tenacity. While his action was brave consider this: Ralston broke the foundational principles of the mountain climbing community. He told no one where he was going. He did not carry a satellite tracking system device that signals park rangers a climber’s location. He told no one when he would return home. It wasn’t until he didn’t show up for work on Tuesday that people became concerned for him.
Ralson allowed his rugged individualistic spirit to cost him his arm and nearly his life. As bad as that is the saddest part is that he sat on the side of that mountain utterly alone, beyond help, because he chose to go it alone.
All his efforts to move the boulder were useless because he was trying to do something individuals were not meant to do. God never intended boulders to be moved by individuals…but by communities. God does not send us into the world alone. Our personal submission to His will is not lived out alone. God sends us into the world and calls for our submission within the context of a united community. God is calling each of us to impact our world and yield to Him as we lean on another at Burke Community Church.
