Allen Jackson - Prayer Warriors
Our theme for the year has been "Let's Pray", and for this particular portion of it, we're gonna take a couple of weeks and look at this notion of being prayer warriors. Prayers being more than a passive response to life, or an accidental response to life, we wanna do it on purpose. And we'll start with the idea that the kingdom of God is a volunteer initiative that you have to enlist. God won't draft you, he won't force you. You're gonna have to choose. So when we talk about prayer specifically, I have one objective and that's to invite you to decide that you wanna be a person who prays.
I wanna eliminate from your responses to life, things, like, "I don't pray" or "I don't know how to pray," or "prayer never seemed important to me". That may have been a description of you previously, but our intent is that after this season, you will become a person who says, "I pray". That you will volunteer in the kingdom of God to be a person of prayer. Prayer is intended to be a meaningful part of our lives, and with God's help, we're gonna develop that. For a little bit this morning, and then again, this evening.
In 2 Timothy chapter 2, in verse 1, Paul is writing, and I'm not gonna read the whole passage to you, but in verse 3, he said, "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus". He uses three images in this passage. A good soldier. Folks, he didn't say be a Cub Scout, he didn't even say be an Eagle Scout, he said you're a soldier, be a good one. The military brings with it a totally different set of connotations. You know, we use military language for a lot, we teach our little kids when they're playing soccer on the fields across the street, you know, it's a battle and you're going to war and... really not, it's just a group of kids chasing a ball down the field, and they're not even keeping score, and when they're done, they're all gonna go have ice cream.
The context of being a soldier suggests that there's an enemy, an adversary, who doesn't just wanna disrupt you, his intention is to destroy you. And then Paul says, you wanna compete like an athlete in the games, you wanna compete to get the prize. The Olympics just completed a few days ago, and I watched the opening ceremonies, a parade of all the athletes from the nations coming in, lots of drama, and I was watching a bit of that.
I heard the announcer say, on more than one occasion, they'd zoom in on some athlete, be crying, a lot of emotion as they walked into the stadium, and all the athletes from the world were there, and the announcers would say, "For many of the athletes, the highlight of their Olympic experience is participating in the opening ceremony," and then they repeated it and they say, you know, "Many of these athletes know they're not here to compete at a world class level for a medal, they're here to be participants in the Olympics".
Now, I'm not criticizing them. I'm not a good enough athlete just to be a participant. You know, I'm eating Doritos in an overstuffed chair with Dr. Pepper going, "You go". No criticism, but when it comes to my faith, I don't want to simply say, "I was along for the parade". Paul says to us, we wanna compete with the intention of winning the prize. And then finally, he talks about a hard working farmer, and of all the images, that's the one I'm probably more connected to, I know a little bit about that. Farming is hard work, but farming is necessary for survival. Food does not grow at Kroger or Publix or Walmart or wherever you like to shop, it really doesn't.
In fact, to me, one of the most worshipful places I visit is a grocery store. We are so blessed, when I walk in that grocery, I stand in the produce section, I think this is amazing. I didn't hoe a thing. And there is a whole array of things for me to choose from, you know how blessed we are? You are crazy blissed. I like to walk down the cookie aisle. I've lived in places that don't have grocery stores. I just stand in that cookie, I'm amazed. I mean, there's a whole aisle of cookies. There's a whole section of just Oreos, hallelujah. We are blessed, but food is the result of hard work and effort.
And we're so far removed from that agricultural cycle and awareness, we lose sight of that. And all of those images Paul is bundling for Timothy, in the context of his faith, he said, "We have to choose to give God our best, to put it all on the line for our faith". That's not what we've been coached to folks, we think putting all on the line for our faith is enduring church when the service goes ten minutes long. And the Presbyterians get to the restaurant ahead of us, and we missed the second half of the ball game, and I'm not going back to... I'm finding a better church. In 2 Chronicles 16, it says, "The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him".
God is searching for people. This is so important, God is searching for people. I like college sports a lot, and college football, I got home last night, I turned it on, they were talking about all these different teams, and how they recruit nationally and internationally. They start watching players when they're little kids, playing in all sorts of community leagues, with the eye that ten or twelve years from now, they can contribute to their team, and they start working the parents and the family systems, and then sweeping up the talent for their teams.
Folks, we got somebody that's a better recruiter than an SEC coach. It's the Creator of heaven and earth, and he's searching the earth, looking for men and women who care enough about the purposes of God to say, "I'll pray". I wanna be one of those people. Prayer is not a burden, it's not some loathsome intrusion into your life. It can be a powerful point of making a difference. I wanna suggest to you that the response of one person can make a difference, that the response of one person can make a difference.
You see, I think we have a tremendous hurdle to climb over with all the communications tools that we have at our disposal and directed towards us these days, there's an avalanche of information that washes over us. And sometimes it leaves you feeling rather powerless, doesn't it? I decided I can only take limited amounts of news. You know, good news doesn't sell, apparently, advertising as well, and I just don't need overly exposed to the avalanche of awful stuff, it's overwhelming to me because it challenges this idea that I can make a difference. It leaves you feeling completely powerless before it all. But I'm telling you, it's not true. It is not true, you are not insignificant.
And the reason that's true is not because of who you are, who I am, we are weak and frail, and we have limited resources, and not that many people care about our opinions, but we are servants of the Most High God, the Almighty One, the Creator of heaven and earth, the judge of all the earth. I don't stand in my strength, nor you stand in yours, we stand as ambassadors for the Almighty God. And you do make a difference. You make a difference in your office, in your neighborhood, in your family. There may not be overwhelming support for your position. God and you, it's a majority. It's okay. Don't ever again believe that lie, that I'm insignificant. I know we're not perfect.
Folks, none of us are perfect. We get some goofy ideas get momentum that, you know, if we look at something and it lacks perfection, then we will not show it any honor or respect. We find very few things that are perfect because they're usually composed, they're recruited from an imperfect pool, that would be us. But our intent is to honor the Lord. And you do make a difference. I'll give you one example from the scriptures, from the book of Exodus, it's a story I suspect is familiar to many of you. It's a part of the narrative about Moses and the Hebrew people.
When we meet them, they are slaves in Egypt, and they've been delivered now through the power of God. They have come through the Red Sea, the Egyptian army has been drowned, they are free, finally. They have plundered Egypt, they have the gold and the silver of the nation with them. And they've begun their journey towards The Promised Land, they're three days on the other side of the Red Sea. So, they're still celebrating, but three days into the desert, you have a problem, a water problem.
And that's where we step into it, it's Exodus 15, "Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the desert. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they couldn't drink the water because it was bitter. (That's why the place is called Marah.)" Marah is just the Hebrew words, the English transliteration of the Hebrew word for bitter. This pool of water was called bitter. Now, there are very, very, very limited water sources in that desert, I've been there. So it's highly improbable that they were traveling randomly, God is certainly leading them, there's a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, but I don't believe Moses got lost, they've made a journey towards the first water source they knew, and when they get there, they can't drink it.
Now, the text doesn't give us complete information, so I don't know for sure, a part of this is almost comical to me. If they're traveling towards the closest water source they know, perhaps they knew it was called "bitter," and when they got there, the water was bitter, who knew? Maybe that's why they called the place bitter. Either way they couldn't drink it, but I want you to watch what happens. Says, "The people, they grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' But Moses cried out to the LORD, and God shows him a piece of wood". He says, "Throw that in the water and it will become sweet, potable, you can drink it".
It's a very stark contrast, and I don't want us to miss it. The entire nation of people, they're God's people, the covenant people, the chosen people, he's moving on their behalf. The entire lot of them is grumbling, and Moses prays. And in response to Moses's prayer, God provides a resolution. A person willing to pray makes a difference.
Now, it's easier to grumble with the crowd. It's easier to sit with everybody and their negativity, and say, "You know, we should have had a better plan. Who marked this map, who programmed the GPS, what are we doing here anyway? I kinda liked Egypt, the views were good". It's much easier to go along with the complaining, negative, overwhelming than it is to stand apart, and say, "I believe God can make a difference".
See, I'm inviting you towards something other than just sitting in church, pretending to be a Christian. I'm inviting you to something more than a heightened morality or a new ethic. I'm inviting you to imagine that God will make a difference in you, in your family, in your community, in the place where you work, where your kids go to school, wherever God plants you, he plants you to make a difference. Amen, I'm having more fun than you, but it's okay.
Now, because one person makes a difference, I want you to have deeply embedded in your heart the value of prayer. Look at Isaiah 37. Isaiah is the prophet, the king's name is Hezekiah, and the problem of the day is the Assyrian army. Now, the Assyrian army is the ascendant military power of the day, they're conquering everybody before them and they're headed towards Jerusalem. And it's impossible for the Israelites and their military prowess to turn back the Assyrians, they're defeated before they get there.
So Hezekiah is appropriately in full blown panic mode and he calls for Isaiah the prophet, and we get to listen in, "Isaiah the son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed concerning Sennacherib the king of Assyria, this is the word the LORD has spoken against him.'" And he goes on to tell him that God's gonna stand on behalf of Israel, that he'll turn back the Assyrian army, but the intriguing phrase that Isaiah says, Hezekiah, because you have prayed, God is gonna do something. The implication is clear, if you hadn't prayed, God's not taking any cards in this game. Your prayers have affected a different outcome.
You see when you see outcomes from someone's prayers, there's two things you can know for certain. You can know they have invested time and effort in knowing God and in praying beyond what you have observed. When you see consistent outcomes, you know that individual has invested time and effort in knowing God and knowing something about prayer, beyond the little slice you observed. You can do this, you can do this. And when we began the year, I suggested to you a new response, and it was distilled out of Philippians 4 and verse 6, where it says, "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayer and petition, let your request be made known to God".
Not to be anxious about anything, that's hard to do in our world, isn't it? Our world is an anxiety incubator, but it said that we don't have to be that way, that in everything, by prayer and petition, we can present our request to God. Now, what's that look like and how do we do it? And I'll tell you my goal, my goal is to let prayer become a part of the fabric of our day, that it's as normal to us as saying, "How are you today"? We're social creatures, we interact a lot. Some of us are very verbal creatures. You talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere. And if you grew up in the South, we've got a whole menu of polite banter that we don't even want you to respond to, we just know it's what we're supposed to say.
You know, we're gonna ask you how you are today, we don't really want you to answer because we don't really care. But we're good, polite Southern folks, so we're gonna ask. Well, I mean, it's kind of true. And now we got this whole set of digital tools with which we communicate, so that we, like, overly communicate. We have friends we don't know and we send them pictures of our dessert. I'll tell you, I'm not sending you a picture of my dessert. One, I don't want you to know that I'm eating it, and two, I don't intend to share, so. We got all these ways we communicate, and if you listen just a little bit, if you care enough to listen just a little bit, people give you a lot of clues about their life.
How are you today? You'd be amazed at what they'll spill out, "I'm not so great, the kids were sick all night long, I didn't sleep". How you doing today? "I'm not so great today, my husband, he's nuts". You know, how you doing today? "I'm not so great, did you see the way my team played yesterday or Alabama came from behind, I'm depressed". You know, lots of information shared, and you've probably got a little banter that you have built into that that's kind of part of your own personal style, how you interact with those people. They tell you their kids were sick, you've got a horror story when your kids were sicker. Or they tell you their husband's nuts, and you tell them yours is certifiable, he's on medication.
Well, whatever, what I suggested was that there's a God opportunity in that, that when somebody, when you have that little interaction, it could be somebody where you're buying gas or at the checkout counter at the grocery, this doesn't have to be somebody you know, when you have that little interaction and they give you that little window, if you have listened, you have a God opportunity, right there in that moment. You can say, "Hey, let's pray". Now, don't say to them, "Would it be all right if I offered an address to Almighty God on your behalf"?
The opportunity will have knocked and moved on. But when they offer you that little window, if you will just say, "Let's pray," and then before anything else happens, you just drop your head, close your eyes, like, you expect them to be excited, and you say a one sentence prayer, you only get one sentence. If you have to pray in three sentences, just hush, we don't need you on this team. All right, now it's not the only kind of prayer to pray, it's not the always, but it is a way to bring prayer to bear. Somebody stopped me in the lobby a few weeks ago, and they said, "Pastor, I'm having serious surgery this week, will you pray for me"? I said, "I'd be happy to," and they said, "I want more than one sentence". I said, "I get that, there's times where there's more than one's appropriate".
Okay, but if you are interjecting prayer into a circumstance, one sentence is enough. You'd be amazed what you could cover with a sentence. Lord, give my friend rest today, in Jesus's name. Lord, I pray for that child, they'll be stronger today, amen. Lord, help us at work today, we got a lot to do, amen. God, we just wanna say thank you for the day, amen. Maybe you're getting your mail out of the mailbox, you see your neighbor and they tell, you know, "Let's pray, God, I thank you for such a fine neighbor, bless him in Jesus's name, amen". Just one sentence. When you're done with a sentence, hush.
Now, here's the key, when you have said the prayer, move on. Just keep moving like it's normal, "How about those Titans? Pray you have a great day, see you later". Do not, do not try to solicit from them some spiritual response. You've met these people, you have a prayer with them, and then they go... "Did you feel that"? Folks, you've creeped me out. Now, you know, if you felt electricity from the top of your head to the soles of your feet, I'm not doubting it, keep it to yourself. If you saw an angel descend in a light on their shoulders while you were praying, walk away affirmed that God heard your prayer, but don't oversell it. You've said your sentence, you've said amen, just move right on with normal business as you know, two things have happened. You have invited God into a place where he would not have been invited. And because you prayed, I believe God will do something.
And secondly, and of equal significance, that individual has now been introduced to someone who believes prayer has enough value that they took the time and had enough concern, that rather than just commiserate, they offered a prayer on their behalf. You'd be amazed how many of those people will come find you later on for a follow up prayer. Now, you can do this. If you're willing to say Rocky Top or Roll Tide, or talk about your favorite, you know, who got voted off the island, or who's got the most talent that's gonna get selected this week, you can say, "Let's pray". You are changing this community.
We started talking about this back in January and I've been hearing, Let's Pray stories about you all year. I can't hardly go into community anymore without somebody telling me some Let's Pray story. Good, all right, we're not done. We're about done with this session, but we're not done praying. Somebody told me this story recently, there was a woman that was pregnant and was well along in her pregnancy, and was involved in a pretty serious car wreck. And some people passing by stopped to help her get out of the car before the first responders got there, and the woman was quite anxious because she couldn't feel the baby moving. She was very distraught, and there was a couple who had stopped to help her, and the woman prompted, insisted that the husband pray for the the woman who had been in the accident.
So he said a rather brief prayer, and the first responders rolled in, and everybody went their way, and they didn't know one another, and it was kind of lost. Well, the baby ended up being okay and the woman delivered, everybody was healthy, and she sent out birth announcements in her neighborhood and the doorbell rang and a man was standing at the door with that birth announcement. And he said, "You may not remember me, but you were in a car wreck a few weeks ago, and we were passing and we stopped, and I said a little prayer for you.
And when I saw the birth announcement, I just wanted to come see the baby". And he said, "What you don't know about me is," he said, "My wife and I stopped and my wife had never, the reason she didn't pray, she'd never prayed out loud for anybody in public. And the truth is, I had never prayed out loud in public, but my wife wouldn't leave me alone". And he said, "I go to this church where the pastor has been saying, let's pray. And that's really what prompted me". And the woman with the baby said, "You go to World Outreach, that's where I go to church".
And I hear story after story after story where your prayers make a difference. Somebody called me. There was a pastor coming through town for something from California, and they asked me, they wanted me to meet him. So I met him at a restaurant just for an introduction. And we sat down at the table for the information dump, you know, "Hi, I'm Allen and this is what I do". And the server came up and said, "Pastor, somebody in the kitchen said you were out here". And he looked at me a little weird, and I said, "It's a small town". And she said, "Hey, you should know, we just had a Let's Pray moment in the kitchen. The dishwasher was having a family problem, and I just stopped and said, 'Let's pray,' and we just had a prayer in the kitchen".
And she pulled out of her pocket the "Let's Pray" book, and she said, "This little book is wonderful, it's changed our whole place". And he looks over me, he said, "Is it like this everywhere"? I said, "Absolutely". And so we went on with the meal and before we're done, somebody else that was working in the kitchen came out and said, "I have a family member that's having surgery this week, and they told us you're right here. I hate to interrupt, but would you pray for me, for my family member, before we go"?
So, we had prayer again, and the guy looked at me, he was supposed to be going on to something else. We weren't coming here. And he said, "Could we go by your church and get me some of those books before I go back"? Your prayers are making an incredible difference. Now, that's the truth. I brought you a prayer, let's close with that, if you'll stand with me. We're gonna move this a little farther down the field tonight, God willing. All right, let's read this prayer together.
Heavenly Father, I have followed You with reluctance and have often complained. I repent. I gladly yield to You and Your invitations in my life. Holy Spirit help me to learn the ways of God, give me an awareness of spiritual things beyond any I have known. I want to live in a way that brings honor to Jesus as my Lord and King, amen.