Yesterday’s sermon message was titled Prayerful Ways and was birthed out of a set of devotionals I had recently read on the subject matter of prayer. It so happens that this is a subject matter weighty on my heart these days anyway, and so to have an unexpected but welcome follow-up message sent to me this morning was particularly potent. As a dear sister from our congregation has just reminded me, this is what some have referred to as a "sacred echo". It's obvious God wants my attention, and for that matter, our attention - regarding prayer.
Before receiving this message, I had come across the topic of Body Language in my morning devotional. Now to most, that may seem insignificant. However, that happens to be one of the four main subtopics I had used in yesterday’s message, Prayerful Ways, and related it to the manner in which we pray. Coining the phrase sacred echo, perhaps for me personally this might be considered a “double echo”?
Of particular emphasis in the message Prayerful Ways was another main subtopic, Spread It Out. It was based on the scriptural and historical reference to King Hezekiah spreading a threatening letter/decree out before the LORD in prayer (II Kings 19:14 & Isaiah 37:14). This was a seemingly impossible situation for the people of Jerusalem as a whole, filled with incredible intimidation and promoting great fear. In our modern day lives, this was used to emphasize that we can bring intimidating written news before the LORD, such as a threatening email, a pink slip, a frightening medical diagnosis, a divorce decree, or an unexpected bill or financial statement. We may not incur these types of threats every day or even very often, but sometime in our lives we come to the place where things are simply “beyond us”.
To be specific, the sacred echo forwarded to me this morning included a devotional by Glynnis Whitwer , on staff with Proverbs 31 Ministries as their executive director of communications and overseer of their devotionals, Encouragement for Today. In it, (and based on the scripture reference; "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV)); she wrote this:
Why do I compare God’s power to mine? Why do I worry about "bothering" Him with too many "big" requests? Why do I accept so many situations and never even think about praying for them to change?
The truth is that I’m much more comfortable praying for things that could be solved in my own power. There’s an underlying fear that God might say "No," or worse, stay silent.
Plus, I’m afraid I’ll misuse my invitation to pray or seem demanding. The last thing I want is to treat God like a genie in a bottle. Those complicated fears limit my prayers for God’s help in many impossible situations.
Oh how that must grieve the heart of my Heavenly Father. He knows how much more He wants to do in my life, and in the lives of others, if only I’ll invite Him.
Here’s the truth: When I build my faith on what I can do, then I will only see what I can do. But a faith based on what God can do … now that’s life-changing.
That’s how I want to live my life. I want my prayers and faith to go beyond human power. I want to bring everything to my Heavenly Father, every care, every need. Not with a demanding heart, but with one of positive expectation.
It’s not my responsibility how God decides to answer. But that shouldn’t keep me from asking.
I’m tired of playing it safe. It’s time to cast off my (our) fears, remove the limitations I’ve (we’ve) placed on God, and invite Him into every situation I (we) face — especially those that seem hopeless. It’s then I’ll (we’ll) see God’s power, not mine (ours). (my emphasis added…)
Thank God for those things, the many things, that are beyond us. Because they are “beyond us”, we have this privileged opportunity to bring them to our awesome God in prayerful crys. If I understand correctly the cited scripture (Jeremiah 32:27) as well as many others, nothing is beyond Him!
So today, if in the recesses of your spirit and thinking, and as a result of an impossible need or situation you (we) face, you are saying, “it’s beyond me” – then without hesitation, take it to our Father in prayer. If necessary, write the impossibility on a piece of paper. Like Hezekiah, spread it out before the LORD. This is our confidence. His answer to us will always and most assuredly be; “It’s not beyond me.”
Pastor Bob
Before receiving this message, I had come across the topic of Body Language in my morning devotional. Now to most, that may seem insignificant. However, that happens to be one of the four main subtopics I had used in yesterday’s message, Prayerful Ways, and related it to the manner in which we pray. Coining the phrase sacred echo, perhaps for me personally this might be considered a “double echo”?
Of particular emphasis in the message Prayerful Ways was another main subtopic, Spread It Out. It was based on the scriptural and historical reference to King Hezekiah spreading a threatening letter/decree out before the LORD in prayer (II Kings 19:14 & Isaiah 37:14). This was a seemingly impossible situation for the people of Jerusalem as a whole, filled with incredible intimidation and promoting great fear. In our modern day lives, this was used to emphasize that we can bring intimidating written news before the LORD, such as a threatening email, a pink slip, a frightening medical diagnosis, a divorce decree, or an unexpected bill or financial statement. We may not incur these types of threats every day or even very often, but sometime in our lives we come to the place where things are simply “beyond us”.
To be specific, the sacred echo forwarded to me this morning included a devotional by Glynnis Whitwer , on staff with Proverbs 31 Ministries as their executive director of communications and overseer of their devotionals, Encouragement for Today. In it, (and based on the scripture reference; "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV)); she wrote this:
Why do I compare God’s power to mine? Why do I worry about "bothering" Him with too many "big" requests? Why do I accept so many situations and never even think about praying for them to change?
The truth is that I’m much more comfortable praying for things that could be solved in my own power. There’s an underlying fear that God might say "No," or worse, stay silent.
Plus, I’m afraid I’ll misuse my invitation to pray or seem demanding. The last thing I want is to treat God like a genie in a bottle. Those complicated fears limit my prayers for God’s help in many impossible situations.
Oh how that must grieve the heart of my Heavenly Father. He knows how much more He wants to do in my life, and in the lives of others, if only I’ll invite Him.
Here’s the truth: When I build my faith on what I can do, then I will only see what I can do. But a faith based on what God can do … now that’s life-changing.
That’s how I want to live my life. I want my prayers and faith to go beyond human power. I want to bring everything to my Heavenly Father, every care, every need. Not with a demanding heart, but with one of positive expectation.
It’s not my responsibility how God decides to answer. But that shouldn’t keep me from asking.
I’m tired of playing it safe. It’s time to cast off my (our) fears, remove the limitations I’ve (we’ve) placed on God, and invite Him into every situation I (we) face — especially those that seem hopeless. It’s then I’ll (we’ll) see God’s power, not mine (ours). (my emphasis added…)
Thank God for those things, the many things, that are beyond us. Because they are “beyond us”, we have this privileged opportunity to bring them to our awesome God in prayerful crys. If I understand correctly the cited scripture (Jeremiah 32:27) as well as many others, nothing is beyond Him!
So today, if in the recesses of your spirit and thinking, and as a result of an impossible need or situation you (we) face, you are saying, “it’s beyond me” – then without hesitation, take it to our Father in prayer. If necessary, write the impossibility on a piece of paper. Like Hezekiah, spread it out before the LORD. This is our confidence. His answer to us will always and most assuredly be; “It’s not beyond me.”
Pastor Bob
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