4-26-09 Prayer in uncertain times

Last week we talked about the whole idea that in uncertain times we tend to look up instead of around. During 9-11 and the whole Building Trade Center issue, people flocked to church looking for answers. We said last week when the U.S. Airways flight crash-landed in the Hudson River the head flight attendant said everyone on the plane was praying.

And so it is, when we face uncertain times as a nation with many people loosing their jobs, people not being able to sell their houses, finances spiraling downward, difficulties in relationships with our health – when we have times of uncertainty, we tend to focus on God and give him our undivided attention.

Last week Paul challenged with these words from Philippians. He said, Rejoice in the Lord always Philippians 4:4

In times of uncertainty, we are not called to rejoice that we’ve lost our job, or half of our 401k. We are not called to rejoice in the fact that you and your spouse are not speaking, We are not called to rejoice that you have cancer or a chronic health issue – NO!

But we are called in the midst of those uncertain times to rejoice in the Lord – to focus on him. Because when we focus on the uncertain situation, our heart, mind, and soul fills up with fear and anger, and bitterness and we get grumpy, moody, and edgy, and that will bring us nothing but Hell. It brings us down, it robs us of all our joy and peace. It brings down there up here.

Instead of focusing on the uncertainties in life, Paul challenges us to Rejoice in the Lord Always, to focus on God, because we have so much to rejoice about. We are called to rejoice in every flower and every petal and every fragrance, because God has given that to you to help you know that he is present – and not just present, but that he loves and cares about you – rejoice in that fact.

Every food that God has given us – try to reproduce it, try to replicate it, try to live without it. It is a gift from God – rejoice in his provision. I’m not going to share that message again. If you weren’t here, and I’ve pricked your interest in that message, you can find that on our website.

Let me wrap up what we said last week, so we can continue on in what Paul is teaching us. If we focus on the uncertainty, we will end up being fearful, or angry and when that happens, I will be moody or sharp or just kick the dog for nothing he did, and when I act like that it doesn’t honor God or bless the people around me.

So Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice, and then he continues on and says this: Let your gentleness be known to everyone. Philippians 4:4

The opposite of gentleness is to be quarrelsome. Paul is saying that we shouldn’t allow hard times to erode our character and our integrity. Don’t allow hard times to make us angry, fearful, or sharp. Don’t take out your uncertainty and fear on other people. Instead, focus on God – put your eyes on heaven. Don’t ignore the issue completely, but don’t let it control you either.

Paul says in his letter to Titus, he says, (We are) to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. Titus 3:2

 

During difficult times, we oftentimes worry. We become fearful. Someone who’s lost their job might think: how are we going to pay the bills? How are we going to eat? Are we going to lose our house or our car? And then if that happens, “What will people think?”

 

Someone whose marriage is going south might think: I’m not valuable”, or “I’m not good enough” or “How am I going to pay my bills”, or “Are my kids going to be ok with him, or with her”; or “How am I going to live with this loneliness?”

 

Someone with health concerns might think: Is this the end? Am I going to make it thought this ok? Or how will I live without that part of me.

 

Usually, in uncertain times, we become afraid, and when that happens, fear can drive us, and when fear drives us, we usually go into one of two modes: fight – and this is what Paul is talking about, because we become angry, quarrelsome, sharp, we say and do things that hurt and damage those around us – we do that or we take flight – we avoid, we hide, we sulk, or we ignore.

 

But Paul says, let your gentleness be known to everyone. Why? Let’s continue reading. 

 

Why, because: The Lord is near. God isn’t far away – God is with you – Do not worry – Don’t be stressed out or anxious – about anything - don’t be anxious about Any. . . Thing.

Now that is not very helpful advice. In fact you hate it, don’t you? This is the way that people today say this – your spouse or your friend, or your coworker, or someone from your family, they’ll say, “Don’t worry about it”. When someone has said that to me, I’ve never once said, “Wow, I’d never thought about that, thanks. I’ll just not worry about it. I don’t know what got into me, that’s so easy, just don’t worry about – that’s the answer I’ve been looking for. I should have thought of that.” NO! I just want to ring their neck when they say something like that to me.

Paul says, “Don’t be anxious about anything”, but he’s smart enough to know that he can’t leave it there. In these next two verses, Paul gives us the secret of handling difficult times, without allowing the difficult times to control us.

Remember, whatever controls us is our god. Whatever controls you and I, it has power over us. If you focus on the conflict or the troubling circumstance in your life, it will control you, it will rob you of everything good thing; it will trash everything that God created you for; it will wipe out every blessing that God has given you and if it goes on long enough, it will wipe out every blessing that God has in store for you.

Not only will your life be hell, but you, because of your choice, live there some day. Where we put our focus matters, because it not only determines how much of heaven will invade our lives now, but it is also a path that will also determine our final destination.

In these next few verses, Paul gives us the answer to what we are called to do during times of anxiety, fear, and conflict in our lives. Usually during these times we get all up tight, we get edgy, angry, hurtful, or we hide or we isolate ourselves from others or the problem, and all of this just erodes are character, and it erodes what God has called us to be and it erodes heaven on earth – it erodes God’s desired goodness for you and me and for the earth.

Fear is faith in the wrong direction. Fear is believing that Satan is going to win. Fear is believing that God has no power in your situation. Fear is believing that the problem is bigger than God. Fear is the reason why we get all worked up during times of turbulence, but there is another way. Paul doesn’t say, “Just quit worrying” instead he says this

The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything -in every situation, every marriage situation, every relationship situation, every financial situation, every job situation, every school situation – in other words, what Paul is saying is that this way of living and this way of dealing with issues can be applied, no matter what, to every single situation that you and I deal  with always.

And this, Paul says, is what I want you to replace your anxiety with. Every time you’re filled with worry, and every time that you’re filled with anxiety, and every time that you are filled with anger, and every time that you are filled with fear, here’s what I want you to do instead.

I’m not saying simply, “Don’t worry about it”. I’m saying do this instead. This means today, this means this afternoon, this means this evening, this means tomorrow when you wake up and the uncertainty is still there and there is still nothing to do. In those moments of anxiety, this is what God would have us do, instead of, to replace our worry and our anxiety.

The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but (but means the opposite of everything that was just stated) in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Now if you read this passage like this: Do not worry about anything, but in all situations, Pray. You miss the meaning of what Paul is saying here, but that’s how most of us read it. And we think to ourselves, “Pray, what do you think I’ve been doing. I’ve been praying my fool head off. I’ve prayed more in the last 3 months then I’ve prayed in my whole lifetime. I’m praying “God help me, save me, deliver me, do something please.”

So Paul, if you’re telling me that the answer to anxiety is praying, I don’t think that’s helpful, because I’ve been doing that and my anxiety is still there.

Now, let’s put the words back up on the screen and look at them again.

The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, in everything by prayer (but that’s not where Paul stops) and petition (well isn’t that the same as prayer? Yeah, but he’s going somewhere with it), with thanksgiving – we all know what that means, but then he uses a word that is not even a prayer word. He’s using a word that is not usually even found in this type of context.  Paul is telling us something that is so important and so rich, and I’ll do my best to explain it.

 . . .with thanksgiving, and then here’s the word . . ., “present“, which literally means to reveal and is usually used in the context of solving a mystery. What Paul is saying, and this is substantiated by what follows, he’s saying, “I don’t just want you to pray, ‘God help me find a job, help her or him to come back, or heal me or heal her’ that’s find, start there, but this is what you’re going to do instead of worrying while you wait.

Now, you have to know that the New Testament, which we are reading from was originally written in the language of Greek. Therefore, the original language was translated into English, but oftentimes when you translate, there is not a word for word conversion, so you have to substitute another word or a group of words to try and convey the original meaning. Oftentimes some meaning is lost in translation, that is the case here.

What Paul is saying here is, I want you to spend the time necessary to understand for yourself, and then to reveal to God, what you really, really, at the deepest level of your heart desire.

On the surface, I desire a job, but what do you really desire. On the surface, I desire to sell this house, but what do you really desire? What’s behind your request? What’s driving your request. Paul is saying, I want you to spend as much time as necessary to figure out what is the deepest, deepest, deepest desire of your heart.

Here’s where we’re going – this is good! During uncertain times, it brings to the surface our deepest insecurities. During uncertain times, all our fears that have been buried deep in the heart of our soul are drudged up and they come to the surface once again. Very few of us pray at the level of insecurity and fear. Most of us pray at the level of complete selfishness. We say, “Here’s what I want, Here’s what I need – Give me, Give me, Give me, Amen”.

Paul is saying, I want you to look deep in your heart and reveal to God something that you’ve never revealed to him before, because you’ve never been aware of it before. Uncertainty will always bring to the surface my deepest insecurities and my hidden fears.

We say to God, “help me find a job”, but then the prayer behind that is “God I’m afraid of not being able to provide for my family, and I’m afraid that you won’t provide, and I’m afraid that you don’t love us enough to take care of us. Father, I don’t want to be afraid of those things. I want to trust in you. Father, please help me to love you with all that I am and to trust you in the midst of this uncertainty.

God’s kingdom is up there coming down here. God’s kingdom is about heaven coming to earth. God’s kingdom is about binding or tying up evil and unloosing and pouring out the things of heaven in your life. Let me say that again. God’s kingdom is about binding evil and  unloosing the things of heaven in your life.

The best way to enter God’s kingdom, the best way to experience heaven coming down in your life, is by getting at the root of your insecurities and fears during uncertain times, because wherever you find fear, God is not present.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 (NIV)

Fear is faith in the wrong direction. Fear is believing that God can’t. Fear is believing that God won’t. Fear is believing that God isn’t big enough. Fear is believing that God doesn’t love you or care about you enough. Fear is believing that Satan will win.

Faith is believing God will. Faith is believing that God cares. Faith is believing that God will not let anything happen to you that he will not ultimately redeem. Faith is believing that God loves you so much, that he would willingly give up his life, so that you could live in peace – apart from fear.

The greatest commandment in the entire Bible is to love God with all of our heart, soul mind and strength – to love God with all that we are. In uncertain times, fear is dredged up, and it’s in those times we find where we don’t love God, yet. In those times, we find where we do not trust God, yet. And it’s in those times where we have the ability to find the root of the fear, cast it out, and draw closer to God – love God more.

We need to pray, and petition, and thank God for all the goodness in our lives, but then, Paul says, “I want you to reveal to God your fear. I want you to present that to him

Paul says, I want you to pray, and petition God, with thanksgiving, but I also want you to reveal to God something that you’ve never revealed to God, because maybe you’ve never realized it was there.

 

Here’s what I wrote to me in my notes:

Uncertainty surfaces my deepest  insecurities and my hidden values. When I move past “Help me to find a job, help me to sell a house, help me to close a deal, help me to get well” – When I move beyond all of that, what is beyond all those legitimate requests comes to the surface: Security, my need to feel important, my concern for my family, my need to feel valued and seen in a certain way by my peers, by my spouse, and by my kids.

 

Paul says, come on, I want you to dig that stuff up. I want you to dig it out. I want you to come to God and I want to spend the time necessary until you understand the greater need behind the need. I want you to spend the time in prayer, allowing God to point out the deeper fears that are behind your prayers in the uncertain times of your life.

 

God is not a cosmic Genie in a lamp. God is not a cosmic vending machine that dispenses what we need, when we need it. God has invested in your life and mine, because he deeply loves and cares about you, and he is deeply interested in you becoming a person who deeply loves and cares and trusts him

 

Verse 7 And the peace of God - not the peace of circumstances – that’s the peace of the world, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding – this is the kind of peace where everyone around you goes, “how can you be so calm, when everything is going down around you, because, man, I would be wigging out if that was happening to me. it surpasses all circumstances, because even in the midst of great uncertainty, if you know that God loves you deeply, and cares about you, and would do anything, including giving up his life so that you could have abundant life – if you love God and trust God with all that you are – point to the greatest commandment, then you have  the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard (it will stand watch over) your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

I want God to stand watch over my job or my money, or my investments, or my marriage, or my health, but God doesn’t work that way. He wants to stand guard over your heart. Let me ask you this: What if you could have peace in the midst of great uncertainty? Paul says that in times of uncertainty, we are called to pray until God’s peace comes. We are called to pray until heaven invades our hearts. We are called to pray until the evil in us is bound and the flood gates of heaven’s peace is unleashed in our hearts.

 

We are called to stay on our knees, not until the situation changes, because it may not, but instead, we are called to pray until your heart does. We are called to pray until the peace comes, not just until I get what I want. We are called to look more deeply at our needs and our requests and our fears. “God the reason that I’m afraid is because I’m so insecure, and I guess the reason that I’m so insecure is because I guess I’ve never learned to trust you.” And God says, “Ok, now we’re getting somewhere.”

 

The reason why we are so anxiety ridden is because God is not fully in our hearts. Loving God is a work in progress. It is not a one time deal; it is a journey. Uncertain times are wonderfully hard times, because it confronts us with all that we fear and it gives us the opportunity to bind our fears and cast them out through the power of the Holy Spirit and when that happens, it allows are hearts to be filled with a greater love for God, and it allows for more of up there to come down here in your life and in mine; it allow for more of heaven to flow down like rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Link:

 

• In our lives we often times hurry to much and don’t see God at work. As a way of slowing down, I’d like to ask you all a question. Has anyone seen any God’s handiwork this week?
• Review the message

 

• Did anyone have any questions about the message? Disagreements with what was preached? Or was there anything that struck you?

 

• What do you do in times of uncertainty? Are you grumpy, moody, quarrelsome, or do you withdraw, isolate, or flee from the issue?

 

• The scriptures say let your gentleness be known to everyone. During those times of uncertainty, does our focus determine our mood? In other words, in uncertain times what happens inside of you when you focus on the problem? What happens inside of you when you focus on God?

 

• Leader: Explain the basis of what is meant by “present your requests to God”. The word Akouw (w is pronounced like a long O) is the Greek word which would indicate when a lawyer would bring his case to the judge. The lawyer would have done all the leg work on the case and gotten to the root of the case. He then would present his findings to the judge. We are called to get to the root of why we are praying in uncertain times. Why does Paul want us to get to the root of our prayers?

 

• During uncertain financial times, what would be the surface issue your would be praying for? What’s the root of the prayer or the underlying fear? What does God really want you to pray for? God is not interested in our comfort, but our character.

 

Spend some time in prayer