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Transformers

07/27/2008 - Prayer, Selected Scripture

Last weekend while we were away I got a cell phone call from one of my best friends who called to tell me that on Saturday, July 19, at about 5:15 in the morning his father-in-law, Marv, passed away. He was 80 years old and had battled cancer for the last few years of his life and was at home under hospice care when he died surrounded by his wife and his three grown children and their spouses. They were all camped out together in his living room.

It was a very sacred time. They were softly playing some of his favorite worship songs and as they were listening to a song called "More Than Wonderful" Marv opened up his eyes real wide as if he saw something in the corner of the room and then smiled, closed his eyes and fell asleep in Jesus. It was a precious moment my friend said.

On Tuesday night this week we attended the memorial service for Marv at the church where I grew up. I had known this man long before he became the father-in-law of my childhood friend. He was a leader in the church and was loved and respected by everyone. He had lived a transformed life, the kind of life we're talking about in this series.

And on Tuesday night the church was full of people whose lives had been impacted for Christ by this man starting with his own kids and grandchildren. It was like a reunion of the church and I saw people there that I hadn't seen in decades some had driven for miles to come that night, but that was Marv. He was the kind of guy that was always bringing people together.

There's a Scripture passage in the book of Ecclesiastes that goes like this.

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.²It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone, the living should take this to heart, Ecclesiastes 7:1-2.

I thought of that passage while I was sitting at the memorial service. It was good to be there that night. At one point his daughter stood up and shared how Marv had come to Christ. Years ago when he was a milkman and milk was delivered to your door (Does anybody here remember that? I hope I'm not the only one. Milk delivered to your door in reusable glass bottles no less!) there was a woman on Marv's route that would always put a Bible verse on the top of her milk order. And at first he thought that was strange and didn't pay any attention to it. But eventually he started reading those Scripture verses and one morning, sitting alone in his milk truck, Marv put his faith in Jesus.

Last week, Scott taught about the transforming power of the Scriptures. Marv's life was transformed by a Scripture passage like many of our lives have been, maybe not scribbled on a milk order, but that's what the Scriptures can do. They transform us.

The service that night was filled with worship and story telling and tears and laughter as people shared their favorite memories of Marv. He was a man who touched many lives. He touched my life. About eight years ago his wife was tragically killed in a car accident along with her mother and family friend. It was horrible. And I can remember attending her funeral expecting Marv to be a basket case losing his wife so suddenly. But instead he was filled with hope that his wife was in a better place and the joy that one day he would see her again. This was real to him. And his attitude was astounding to me.

When I was student in college and then in seminary I can remember times when Marv would tell me, "I'm praying for you, Bruce. I'm excited about what God is doing in your life. Keep following the Lord."

He was a man of prayer. Prayer played a big part in his transformation process. I'm sure at one time or another he had prayed for many of the people who were gathered at his service on Tuesday night. And prayer is what I want to talk about today as we continue this series called Transformers.

God has an agenda for your life and mine. He wants to transform us into the image of his Son, Jesus Christ, because he wants us to become fully alive. And we can only become fully alive and fully human as we're morphed more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus who called himself the way, the truth and the life.

That's why Tuesday night had such an effect on me because it was the testimony of a man, not a perfect man by any means, but of a man who allowed himself to be transformed by the Spirit of God and lived a life that influenced others and pointed them to the source of life that's found in Jesus. That's inspiring!

That's probably why Solomon says its better to go to a memorial service sometimes than it is to go to the movies or to the mall so that we can take a fresh look at our own destiny and be inspired to live a life that counts.

God wants to transform us and he has certain time tested means by which he does that. These are the ways he's been transforming people for millennia. Worship is a means by which we're transformed. As Tim said a couple of weeks ago, "We become like what we worship." And that's true. Each week as we gather here there's the potential in worship to make us more fully alive, more like Christ by renewing our minds and refocusing us on the things that matter most in life.

The Scriptures as Scott taught last week are a transformer. That's why we open them week after week and encourage you to be in the Scriptures between Sundays as well. The Bible tells what I believe is the true framing story of who God is and who we are and what went wrong and how it can be fixed. And the Scriptures tell us that as Christ followers we are God's agents to help fix this broken world. And so we come to the Scriptures to find out how to do that.

I love the way the apostle Paul puts it in2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Scriptures teach us, rebuke us, correct us, train us and transform the way we live so that we can do good to others and to this world as we live out the mission of Christ.

The church is a transforming agent in our lives. And in a few weeks Matt is going to teach on the church. The church, of course, is people and my life was greatly influenced by people like Marv and others in the church community where I grew up. The example of other Christ followers has always been a powerful means that God uses to transform our lives. That's why we need to gather together in community and share our lives with each other. Your walk with Christ was meant to inspire me and mine to inspire you. We were never meant to follow Christ alone.

But today I want to talk about prayer and how prayer changes us. Prayer is a huge subject that we could do a whole series on and a number of years ago we did. There's a lot of mystery about prayer and a lot of things that I don't understand about it.

I got an email recently from someone who was going through a very difficult time and they said, "I don't understand why this is happening to me. I'm crying out to God for some peace, but it's not coming. Why not God? Why not?" Ever been there? I have.

So I wrote back and said, "I certainly know the feeling of crying out to God and not feeling heard! I think every one who seeks God feels that way at one time or another. There are plenty of Psalms that reflect that same experience. I don't understand why, I told them, but it might help you to know that you're not alone."

I don't understand why God doesn't answer prayer as quickly as I would like or in the way I would like. And unanswered prayer can be one of the greatest tests of our faith and sometimes it can cause me to stop praying about something altogether. But in those times I need to come back to the fact that I believe there's a God who loves me and knows me and wants what's best for my life. He knows what I need. And some times struggle and brokenness and desperation are what I need.

But I can tell you something else about prayer that I don't understand and that is often when I pray about something and leave it in God's hands I feel an incredible sense of peace in that moment that's transforming. And I don't understand that either.

There's a passage in Philippians 4:6-7 that says that happens when we pray. Look at it with me. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer has the power to change us. Prayer can transform us. Prayer can calm our troubled hearts and bring peace to our stressed out souls. Some of the most meaningful moments in my journey with Jesus have been when people have told me that they're praying for me and for my family or have actually prayed with me or over me.

This week I had that experience with Tim and Matt on Tuesday morning. After we went out to breakfast I was sharing some of the troubling things on my heart, things that had me worried and stressed out inside and when I was finished dumping all of that on them they prayed for me. And that was a powerful moment. And again I felt the peace that transcends all understanding.

That's often what happens when we pray which is one reason we encourage prayer after our worship gatherings and give you the chance to lay your burdens down before leaving this place. I don't understand how all that works. But when we pray there's a peace of God that transcends all understanding that can guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Not only does prayer bring us peace. But prayer is what creates intimacy with God. Prayer is the means that God has given us to feel close to him. It's the way we talk with him and listen to him.

Prayer is communicating with God. Every healthy relationship, whether it's with a spouse or a friend or a coworker, is built on good communication. When we're communicating, we feel close. And when we're not communicating, we feel distant. It's the same way in our relationship with God. He wants us to talk with him about anything and everything at anytime and anywhere. And prayer is the means to do that.

When the disciples approached Jesus and said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples" this is what he told them in Luke 11:2-4, When you pray, say, "Our Father in heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ³Give us each day our daily bread. ⁴Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

What Jesus was telling his disciples blew their minds. He was telling these Jewish men who grew up in a culture where God was so revered that speaking his name was forbidden, that they could now call God their Father. He was introducing them to a side of God that they had never known before. The Creator of the world, the King of the universe was also their Father. The word Father can actually be translated "Daddy!"

God wants us to talk with him like a child talks to his or her Daddy. He wants us to bring big things to him in prayer like kingdom concerns. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So we pray that the values of God's kingdom will break out on this earth right now. We pray for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Middle East. We pray for food for hungry children in Haiti and Rwanda and Ethiopia. We pray for the end of genocide in Darfur and Zimbabwe. We pray for courage and strength for the persecuted church in China and North Korea. We pray for justice for oppressed minorities in our own country.

And when we pray for these things we connect intimately with the heart of God and in some mysterious way we help to change the world. Prayer does change things. The persecuted church often says, "The least you can do is the most you can do. Pray." Nothing is too big to pray about.

But nothing is too small to pray about either.Give us each day our daily bread. So we pray for our daily needs too. Each Wednesday morning we pray as a staff for the needs within the Valley View community. And when we look at the prayer list it's easy to get overwhelmed which is why we formed a Prayer Team a few years ago of about 50 others to join us in praying too.

But we pray for daily needs, health and financial needs, those who are planning to be married and those who are going through divorce, those who are having babies and the loved ones of those who have passed away, those who are out of work and those whose careers are just starting, the daily needs of local missions and ministries, and on and on and on. The stuff of life is what Jesus invites us to pray for. Nothing is too big and nothing is too small to bring to our heavenly Daddy. And when we pray we feel more intimately connected to God and there's that peace that transcends all human understanding.

Prayer is the means that God has given us to make things right. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. It's in prayer that we confess our sins to a loving, heavenly Daddy whose arms are open wide, always ready to forgive. And because he's that way we're to be that way too. Forgiveness is a lifestyle that we are to offer to others. Forgive as the Lord forgave you the Scriptures say in Colossians 3:13.

And finally, because we live in the real world where evil is alive and well and very powerful Jesus says pray for protection and deliverance. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Prayer is a powerful means of transformation. It changes us and it changes the world. It can bring peace to our troubled souls and an intimacy with our heavenly Father like nothing else can. And if we had more time I'd love to open the floor and hear all kinds of examples of answered prayer. How we pray and when we pray and what we pray are important too and will be different for all of us, but those things are not as important as that we pray like children talking to their heavenly Daddy.

James, the Lord's brother wrote in James 5:16, Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.