[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 17th of July, 2016. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
In our anthem this morning, our choir encouraged us to take time to be holy. Speak often with God, feed on His word. By looking to Jesus, like Him we will be.
Speaking with God is simply praying, talking to Him and listening for His response. Feeding on His word is accomplished by reading our Holy Bible. Looking to Jesus is studying His life, His words, His teachings, so that we can get to know Him better and become more and more like Him.
And it all takes time. It takes time to be holy. Sadly, we’re not always willing to give up that time. Not even Jesus’ dearest disciples would always give up the time for something Jesus considered critically important: prayer. Listen and follow along to one incident when Jesus asked His closest friends to stop and pray, from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 22 verses 39 through 46, from the New Living Translation…
Speaking with God is simply praying, talking to Him and listening for His response. Feeding on His word is accomplished by reading our Holy Bible. Looking to Jesus is studying His life, His words, His teachings, so that we can get to know Him better and become more and more like Him.
And it all takes time. It takes time to be holy. Sadly, we’re not always willing to give up that time. Not even Jesus’ dearest disciples would always give up the time for something Jesus considered critically important: prayer. Listen and follow along to one incident when Jesus asked His closest friends to stop and pray, from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 22 verses 39 through 46, from the New Living Translation…
39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There He told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
45 At last He stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”
--Luke 22:39-46 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, we come before You this morning to worship You and to learn from You and Your word. Speak to us that we might understand the message You have for us and allow us to better discern Your will. In the holy name of Your Son Jesus we pray. Amen.
A man took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunch time arrived, the pair went to a diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer." Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but the lad just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?" With the innocence and honesty of a child, his son replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer."
When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy, he once told his mother matter-of-factly, "Momma, you can't be good without praying." "How do you know, Robert?" she asked. "Because I've tried!" he answered.
This is like the young lad who was sent to his room because he’d been bad. After a short time he came out and said to his mother, "I've been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer." "I’m glad", she said. "If you ask God to make you behave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," the boy replied. "I asked Him to help you put up with me."
That’s the thing about prayers… Sometimes we just don’t ask for the right thing. We think we know what we want, but God always knows what we need. When we ask for something, do we give any thought to how it might affect others? Do we think we can get by without His help, being good on our own? Should we ask God to help us be less sinful, or should we just pray that He be more forgiving of our sins?
How many of us truly believe in the power of prayer? How many believe that God not only still listens, but also answers our prayers? How many are sure that anything we ask in Jesus’ name, He will do for us, if we only truly and fully believe He will? How many of us can walk on water?
I’d bet most of us would answer in the positive to the first three of those questions, but I’m equally sure we’d say “no can do” to the fourth.
I’m kind of picking up today where I left off last week. Without God, we are nothing, we can do nothing, we would have nothing. If we fully comprehend and admit that simple concept, then wouldn’t it be in our best interests to try to get and stay within God’s good graces? Wouldn’t it make sense for us to be His friend, to stay on His good side?
Why, then, do not more of us try to get to know Him better and build a better, closer relationship with Him and with His Son, Jesus? Do we think that just because God is a spiritual being that we can’t have a one-on-one connection with Him? Since Jesus no longer walks the earth, have we no recourse left to get to know Him better?
Family, there are many ways to grow closer to God, to learn more about our Savior Jesus. One of the best is to study His word – to not just read but really study our Bible. On Tuesday evenings, we’ll have between 6 to 12 participants in our weekly Bible Study. Why don’t we have 50, or 100? Does everyone else already know God well enough, already understand everything Jesus has to teach us?
No, I think it’s more that this particular activity – studying the Bible – takes time, and a good bit of time if we really dig in with both hands. And you know… it takes time to be holy.
Fortunately, there is another way to get closer to God, one that doesn’t require a whole lot of time for study. The simplest thing in the world we can do is pray. It’s nothing more than talking to God, talking to Jesus. We know how to talk. Some of us are very good at it.
But how often do we just take a few moments out of our day to have a good conversation with our heavenly Father or with our Lord and Savior? If we can spend 30 minutes telling our best friend about the trip we just took, why can’t we do the same with Jesus? Sure He already knows everything that happened, but He wants to hear our version. Because He wants to spend time with us. He loves us and wants to be with us as much as we’ll let Him.
Most folks usually reserve prayer time just for asking for God’s help. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Jesus encouraged us to do so and we do just that right here every week. There are things that will happen to us in this life that only God can help with. And Jesus assures us that when we call on our heavenly Father for help, He will answer.
Now He might not always answer the way we would want Him to. He knows what’s best, even if we don’t have a clue. He knows what we need. But Jesus made us a promise, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in chapter 21 verse 22 of his Gospel account…
A man took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunch time arrived, the pair went to a diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer." Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but the lad just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?" With the innocence and honesty of a child, his son replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer."
When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy, he once told his mother matter-of-factly, "Momma, you can't be good without praying." "How do you know, Robert?" she asked. "Because I've tried!" he answered.
This is like the young lad who was sent to his room because he’d been bad. After a short time he came out and said to his mother, "I've been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer." "I’m glad", she said. "If you ask God to make you behave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," the boy replied. "I asked Him to help you put up with me."
That’s the thing about prayers… Sometimes we just don’t ask for the right thing. We think we know what we want, but God always knows what we need. When we ask for something, do we give any thought to how it might affect others? Do we think we can get by without His help, being good on our own? Should we ask God to help us be less sinful, or should we just pray that He be more forgiving of our sins?
How many of us truly believe in the power of prayer? How many believe that God not only still listens, but also answers our prayers? How many are sure that anything we ask in Jesus’ name, He will do for us, if we only truly and fully believe He will? How many of us can walk on water?
I’d bet most of us would answer in the positive to the first three of those questions, but I’m equally sure we’d say “no can do” to the fourth.
I’m kind of picking up today where I left off last week. Without God, we are nothing, we can do nothing, we would have nothing. If we fully comprehend and admit that simple concept, then wouldn’t it be in our best interests to try to get and stay within God’s good graces? Wouldn’t it make sense for us to be His friend, to stay on His good side?
Why, then, do not more of us try to get to know Him better and build a better, closer relationship with Him and with His Son, Jesus? Do we think that just because God is a spiritual being that we can’t have a one-on-one connection with Him? Since Jesus no longer walks the earth, have we no recourse left to get to know Him better?
Family, there are many ways to grow closer to God, to learn more about our Savior Jesus. One of the best is to study His word – to not just read but really study our Bible. On Tuesday evenings, we’ll have between 6 to 12 participants in our weekly Bible Study. Why don’t we have 50, or 100? Does everyone else already know God well enough, already understand everything Jesus has to teach us?
No, I think it’s more that this particular activity – studying the Bible – takes time, and a good bit of time if we really dig in with both hands. And you know… it takes time to be holy.
Fortunately, there is another way to get closer to God, one that doesn’t require a whole lot of time for study. The simplest thing in the world we can do is pray. It’s nothing more than talking to God, talking to Jesus. We know how to talk. Some of us are very good at it.
But how often do we just take a few moments out of our day to have a good conversation with our heavenly Father or with our Lord and Savior? If we can spend 30 minutes telling our best friend about the trip we just took, why can’t we do the same with Jesus? Sure He already knows everything that happened, but He wants to hear our version. Because He wants to spend time with us. He loves us and wants to be with us as much as we’ll let Him.
Most folks usually reserve prayer time just for asking for God’s help. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Jesus encouraged us to do so and we do just that right here every week. There are things that will happen to us in this life that only God can help with. And Jesus assures us that when we call on our heavenly Father for help, He will answer.
Now He might not always answer the way we would want Him to. He knows what’s best, even if we don’t have a clue. He knows what we need. But Jesus made us a promise, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in chapter 21 verse 22 of his Gospel account…
22 "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
--Matthew 21:22 (NKJV)
Jesus formed a two part equation in that simple verse: pray, and believe. First we have to pray. We have to have a conversation with God and ask for what we want or need. And then we have to believe that it will be provided. We must have faith that what we ask will indeed be granted. And that is a pretty good definition of faith: fully trusting that what we ask for will be granted.
My brothers and sisters, God is good. He listens to our prayers, and He answers them, although not always in a way we would prefer, or even recognize. Jesus tried to get His closest friends to stay awake for just a short time and to pray. He knew that they were mere weak humans who can and do easily fall prey to Satan and his many temptations. So before He went off to be alone with His Father, He told them to pray to God that they not fall victim to Satan’s traps. But when He came back, He found them asleep. They wouldn’t give up those precious few moments to seek God’s help – they wanted to sleep. “Wake up!”, Jesus probably shouted at them. “Get up and pray!”
Well, family, it’s time for us to wake up! It’s time for us to get up and pray! Pray to God for His help in resisting temptation. Pray for the well-being of others. Pray for His divine intervention in a world that seems to be falling apart. Pray for yourself, for each other, for our loved ones. And pray… pray because God loves us and wants to spend some good personal time with us.
Just pray – just get up and pray.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You do so much for us, and ask for so little in return. You ask that we believe in Jesus as Your Son, our Christ and Savior. And You ask that we spend a little time in prayer, talking to You, sharing our love with You. It is just one way that we can grow closer to You each day, and the simplest way we have to interact with You, as often as we wish. Forgive us, please Father, when we don’t think we can spare the time to spend with You.
Listen now, please Father, as we cry out to You from our hearts in the silence, speaking directly to You without words, giving You our thanks and seeking Your forgiveness, spending just a few moments getting closer to You…
Lord Jesus, You’ve said to us that all we have to do is ask in Your name and have faith that our plea will be answered, and our Father will hear and respond. You also tell us that we need to wake up from this Satan-induced slumber and pray - pray for God’s help to resist the devil’s temptations. Forgive us, Lord, when we can’t or won’t take the time to do so. Help us, please Lord, to make time, to take time to be holy. Thy will be done, Lord. Thy will be done. It is in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
My brothers and sisters, God is good. He listens to our prayers, and He answers them, although not always in a way we would prefer, or even recognize. Jesus tried to get His closest friends to stay awake for just a short time and to pray. He knew that they were mere weak humans who can and do easily fall prey to Satan and his many temptations. So before He went off to be alone with His Father, He told them to pray to God that they not fall victim to Satan’s traps. But when He came back, He found them asleep. They wouldn’t give up those precious few moments to seek God’s help – they wanted to sleep. “Wake up!”, Jesus probably shouted at them. “Get up and pray!”
Well, family, it’s time for us to wake up! It’s time for us to get up and pray! Pray to God for His help in resisting temptation. Pray for the well-being of others. Pray for His divine intervention in a world that seems to be falling apart. Pray for yourself, for each other, for our loved ones. And pray… pray because God loves us and wants to spend some good personal time with us.
Just pray – just get up and pray.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You do so much for us, and ask for so little in return. You ask that we believe in Jesus as Your Son, our Christ and Savior. And You ask that we spend a little time in prayer, talking to You, sharing our love with You. It is just one way that we can grow closer to You each day, and the simplest way we have to interact with You, as often as we wish. Forgive us, please Father, when we don’t think we can spare the time to spend with You.
Listen now, please Father, as we cry out to You from our hearts in the silence, speaking directly to You without words, giving You our thanks and seeking Your forgiveness, spending just a few moments getting closer to You…
Lord Jesus, You’ve said to us that all we have to do is ask in Your name and have faith that our plea will be answered, and our Father will hear and respond. You also tell us that we need to wake up from this Satan-induced slumber and pray - pray for God’s help to resist the devil’s temptations. Forgive us, Lord, when we can’t or won’t take the time to do so. Help us, please Lord, to make time, to take time to be holy. Thy will be done, Lord. Thy will be done. It is in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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