Sermon Note from Today!

My sermon from July 8th...

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Wrestling in Prayer
July 8, 2007

OPEN WITH PRAYER...

Manny Pacquiao. I doubt that there is anyone here who does not know who Manny is. His face is everywhere; on bottles, on posters, on billboards, boxes of milk and cereal etc... He has become a legend. I think that there has even been a movie made about him correct? As much as his career has become a series of media events and advertising campaigns, his boxing career did not start there. He started his career as a fighter...

Imagine what it's like for a moment to be a fighter. Imagine yourself standing at the entry into a
giant stadium... thousands are chanting your name at the thought of you about to enter into the spotlight. You have your hands tightly taped into fists and are wearing a large hood over your head. As you step into the light your face cannot be seen under the hood as you make your way to the ring. Music pounds in the background as you get closer and closer to the center of the stadium where your opponent waits.... but you can hardly hear the music because you are so nervous and you can feel your heartbeat pounding in your stomach and can hear it in your ears. Moments later the anticipation is driving you crazy as the fight almost begins. At that point, only one thing really matters... not luck, not your natural ability, not who is standing in your corner. not the number of promotions you have done through the year... nothing... but the amount of training and preparation that you have put into getting ready for the fight. Fights are won or lost by the amount of training that you have put into a fight.

I think that few people realize how much dedication and sacrifice it takes to be a successful fighter. The moments I just describe to you are what most people think being a fighter is but, few realize what goes on behind the scenes in the months before a fight begins. There was a time in my life when I was really interested in mixed martial arts training... similar to the fighting that the guys do in the Ultimate Fighting Challenge that has become very popular these days. I had the opportunity to spend a day training with a guy named Chuck Liddell. He is a very popular and successful figher and at the time was the Light-heavy wieght champion. He spent some time describing to us his training schedule... it is basically a full time job. I mean even his diet is closely monitored beginning 6 months before the fight actually starts. 6-7 days a week he is in intense physical and mental preparation. Everything that he does is to prepare himself for the upcoming fight. Hours are spent lifting weigths, running, sparring in the ring, practicing techniques. These guys dedicate their entire lives to the goal of winning a fight. Before they do anything they will ask themselves, is this going to help me win the fight? This is the real life of a fighter... the behind the scenes stuff. Before I go any further, lets open up God's word.

Please turn with me to Colossians 4:12-13

You know, I usually don't read the last part of some of Paul's letters. Kind of feels like what he is sharing is not really important. Its like he is saying good-bye to his buddies or sending his final regards or something. But I think that this was a mistake, as I found in this passage, there are still some great things to be found in such “final words.”

I want you to know this morning that I am not just preaching to you... I am preaching I think even more to myself then to anyone else. I mean even as I wrote this I realized how much I need to grow in the area of prayer. So I think what God has laid on my heart is for all of us. What I think God is doing is that he is calling us to passionate and powerful prayer. I cannot inspire you to pray, to pray more or to pray with passion. Only God can! But what I can do is invite you this morning to open your hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you about your prayer life. If you get anything this morning from what I say I hope you get a greater passion to pray.

Paul wrote the book of Colossians while he was in prison. There was a fellow prisoner there named Epaphras who had been praying for the people of Colosse. Lets read verse 12 and 13 together.

I have to admit that when I read these verses that I was almost brought to tears. Reading about the prayer life in prison of this man named Epaphras really made me think and feel convicted about my own prayer life. Imagine him in prison... keep in mind that the prisons in those days are not like we imagine a prison to be like today. It was probably underground, dark, cold and no doubt little care or concern was put forth for the prisoners. In my imagination I see Epaphras wearing tatered clothing and pouring out his heart before God for hours during the day, day after day... perhaps some of the prisoners thinking he is some kind of crazy madman or something. There are a couple questions that I want us to ponder in our hearts this morning as we think about Epaphras.

1) Do I labor earnestly in prayer?

I want you to ask yourself right now where your prayer life is at. Take a moment right now and think about the last time you prayed. Was it an earnest prayer? Did you give everything that you had? As our friend Epaphras prayed were you laboring in prayer? If I think of my prayer life, I feel quite humbled. How many times have I just woke up in the morning and just said my simple 15 minutes of prayer, read a few scriptures, asked God to bless my day and then moved on.

In another translation it says that he was wrestling in prayer for them. Think back to our fighter friend who spends six months to a year preparing for his fight 7 days a week, dedicating almost every waking moment preparing for his fight... why don't I have that kind of passion and discipline in my own prayer life. These guys will dedicate months of training for a fight that sometimes only lasts 5 minutes. Sometimes a fight is ended by a single punch and only takes a matter of seconds. If they are able to put that kind of passion and training into something that only lasts a moment, then why don't we put more effort into prayers which will bring eternal change.

I mean when I pray I am praying to almighty God! The creator of the universe. The one who came to earth to die for my sins so that I could have eternal life. The only one who could ever give true meaning to my life. The one who I will spend all eternity with. The only one who can save people and bring healing, restoration and revival to Agdao. So why are my prayers so half-hearted?

My goal is not to make you feel convicted, but to have a realization of our deep need for more prayer here in Agdao. We are not fighting against flesh and blood here. The real enemy here is not a poor economy, the lack of jobs or a government that is not able to help everyone. Our enemies are in the spirit world and it is only through prayer that we will be victorious!

2) Am I deeply concerned for the people around me?

It says in verse 13 that he had a deep concern for the people in Colosse. I think the deep concern is what drove him to pray so passionately, to labor in prayer for them... to wrestle with God.
I want to ask you this morning how much you care for those around you. How much do you care whether your life is being lived according to the will of God? How much do you care for your brother who does not know the Lord? I think real prayer can only come out of a deep concern and passion for the thing that we are praying for. There needs to be passion in our hearts.
I remember my dad telling me his testimony before he became a Christian. My dad grew up in a strong Christian environment. His mom and dad were strong Christians and loved God dearly. However, my dad rebelled against God and did not become a Christian until he was in his mid-twenties... and he told me that his mother prayed for him that he would be saved basically from the day he was born... passionate daily prayer! Can you imagine 25 years of prayer. And yet God answered and my dad has been a preacher for the last 30 years... many lives have been changed through his ministry.

In order to pray passionately, we need to have passion. Why is someone like Manny P. able to dedicate 1000's of hours of training time? Sacrificing fun, time with his family, friends and probably many other things he enjoys. The answer is that he has a passion for it. He loves it. He is able to make the sacrifices because winning the fight holds value to him.
Are you deeply concerned about the people around you? When you see a person who is not saved what goes through your mind? Your neighbour down the street? I am deeply convicted in my heart when I think of how little compassion or passion I have at times. I think we need to ask God to soften our hearts and to give us a vision as to how he sees the lost. My pastor in Canada... the heart beat of God is anyone and everyone. We need to ask him to let us see people as he sees them... with His eyes.

Two things to keep in mind about prayer:
1) Luke 11:5-8: There is something to be said about persistent prayer!
Imagine this scenario. Your friends have travelled a great distance to see you. Imagine that they travelled all day from Cagayan and that they arrived late in the evening and are very hungry. When they arrive you realize that you have no rice! All the stores are closed and there is no rice available! So you head over to your friends house... maybe Benjie's house. He and all his family are in bed and asleep...
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Talk about the landlord and the leaky roof.
Talk about my prayer journal.
How hard do we pray for something? I think that God wants us to pray persistently because it shows our resolve... our passion to see what we are praying for answered.
2) Luke 11:9-13: God answers prayer!
God is a loving, merciful father who answers our prayers in love. Prayer is not in vain. It is not a waste of time. Jesus promised that when we seek we will find, that when we ask we will recieve, and that when we knock it will be openend. Take away from this that when we pray... something happens!!! God moves when we pray!!! He does not answer our prayers in anger or in frustration and give us something that is anything other then our best. He blesses us!!!

Prayer takes sacrifice:
1) You have to sacrifice time:
You have to be willing to give up your time in order to pray. There is an old saying that says “there is no free lunch” which means that if someone buys you a lunch and says its on me... there is a catch. Most things of value in this life require a sacrifice, involve a risk or cost something. In order to pray we need to sacrifice our time... prayer takes time! This likely means we have to give up something that we enjoy. Watching tv, hanging out with friends, a movie, going to the gym, taking a nap... etc.
2) You have to make an effort:
Prayer takes our effort. You can't just sit there, you need to make a conscious effort to pray. Prayer takes our energy.

CONCLUSION:

After all that has happened here at HOJ we need to pray. If we want to see complete healing and restoration come to the lives here we need to pray.
How many of us want to see God`s kingdom come to Agdao? I think that we all do. But we have to make the effort. We need to pray. We need to pray. We need to pray. There is no other way.
If bringing long lasting change and renewal to Agdao could be done by following a plan of some kind or by implementing some program, it would have been done already. No doubt some politician would have done it because a more developed community means more taxes are paid and more benefits to the city as a whole... but bringing change here requires a change in the spirit world... the Spirit of God has to rush into this place and bring change...
The only way for that to happen is through prayer!
Remeber about training being the real life of a fighter.... well a prayer life is the behind the scenes real life of an effective Christian.... talk about Art Sheppard....
I want to challenge you to pray more...
Thursday nights we will be holding a prayer meeting here at HOJ at 7 pm. I hope that you will be there, you are all welcome to come. This is a regular prayer night and we would like to find someone who is willing to lead it and to be the facilitator... if anyone is interested please come speak to Sanny after the service.

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