Pastor Jann Braaksma
How’s your prayer list looking?
Short and sweet? NO?
Long and almost overwhelming?
I’m not always sure what or how to pray for all the people in Japan. They need so much, all the basics; water, food, shelter, clothing and hope. And there are so many of them.
Even to build the most basic of shelters will take years.
The hurricane Katrina people will testify to the years it takes to rebuild and the post traumatic syndrome that follows.
And what about the situation in Libya? What will our ultimate commitment be there?
I feel we’re being stretched a bit thin by Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan already.
The people of Haiti still need help.
And we can all make a list of what we need right here in the USA; our economy, unemployment or underemployment, education, roads, taxes and health insurance.
And the list goes on.
Then we add our personal list of prayer needs, and it can seem overwhelming.
What are we suppose to do? Yes, pray.
Pray without ceasing – for a refresher let’s hear 1 Thes. 5:12-18 please.
“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Not to add more to your prayer plate, just a reminder. Respect, love, peace, warn, encourage, help, patience, kindness, joyfulness and giving thanks. Make you think of any other bible verse?
How about Galatians 5:22-23? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Verse 17 of 1 Thessalonians 5, referred me to Luke 18:1-8, let’s hear that now.
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”
For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!”’
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
To persist in prayer and not give up does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Always praying means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live for him day by day, believing he will answer.
When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but his delays always have good reasons. As we persist in prayer we grow in character, faith and hope.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Cor. 13:13)
Is there another prayer scripture that comes to mind? How about 2 Chronicles 7:13-16?
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”
In chapter six, Solomon asked God to make provisions for the people when they sinned. God answered with four conditions for forgiveness: (1) humble yourself by admitting your sins, (2) pray to God, asking for forgiveness, (3) seek God continually, and (4) turn from sinful behavior.
True repentance is more than talk—it is changed behavior. Whether we sin individually, as a group, or as a nation, following these steps will lead to forgiveness. God will answer our earnest prayers.
And God’s response to our earnest prayers? He will: (1) hear, (2) forgive, and (3) heal.
Quite a bargain I think.
Speaking of healing, does that make you think of any scripture? How about Jeremiah 8:21 – 9:1?
“Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.”
These words vividly portray Jeremiah’s emotion as he watched his people reject God.
He responded with anguish to a world dying in sin.
We watch the same world still dying in sin, still rejecting God. But how often is our heart broken for our lost friends and neighbors, our lost world?
Only when we have Jeremiah’s kind of passionate concern will we be moved to help. We must begin by asking God to break our hearts for the world he loves.
Gilead was famous for its healing balm (medicine). Verse 22 (Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?) is a rhetorical question.
The obvious answer is, “yes—God,” but Israel was not applying the “balm”; they were not obeying the Lord.
Although the people’s spiritual sickness was still very deep, it could be healed. But the people refused the medicine. God could heal their self-inflicted wounds, but he would not force his healing on them.
Speaking of God not forcing himself on anyone, does that make you think of another scripture? Yes, Rev. 3:20. Jesus is speaking and says; “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Always the gentleman, our Jesus.
Ready for a little rabbit trail? I had not seen this before, or at least not retained it.
Think of Joseph, coat of many colors Joseph. One of 12 sons of Jacob, and loved by is brothers. Well….he was one of twelve, but not loved by all his brothers. They sold him into slavery, not with Reuben’s permission. He planned to return Joseph to their father unharmed.
Gen. 37:25 says; “As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.”
That is of course how God got Joseph to Egypt and in the position to save his father, those loving brothers and the entire family during the famine that was to come.
Does myrrh make you think of anything? The three wise men of course, bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to Joseph, Mary and Jesus. (Matt. 2:11)
Well, that’s a bit off track, but do you see how wonderfully things fit together for those of us who love Jesus?
So we’re back to our long prayer lists and perhaps our waning hope and faith.
Ephesians 6:10-18 please.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Put on the full armor of God, be alert and always keep on praying.
I close today with Habakkuk 3:17-19 –
“Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
And makes me tread upon the heights.”
Let us pray.
Reference: The Life Application Study Bible
1 Thes. 5:12-18 – starts with “Now we ask you” and ends with “you in Christ Jesus.”
Page 837
2 Chronicles 7:13-16 – starts with “When I” and ends with “always be there.”
Page 312
Jeremiah 8:21 – 9:1 – starts with “Since my” and ends with “of my people.”
Page 541
Luke 18:1-8 – starts with “Then Jesus” and ends with “on the earth?”
Page 742
Eph. 6:10-16 – starts with “Finally: and ends with “all the saints”.
Page 830
Habakkuk 3:17-19 and Life Application Topic “Prayer in the Face of Trouble” please.
Page 1129