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The Church On Its Knees IT IS FEBRUARY 9, 1997… THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH IN LONDON CARRIES A FULL PAGE ARTICLE WITH THE HEADLINE: THE CHURCH ON ITS KNEES… THE ARTICLE IS ON THE GLOOMY DECLINE OF THE CHURCH IN TERMS OF NUMBERS AND PASSION… A FRIEND OF MINE COMMENTED ON THAT HEADLINE BY SAYING… WAIT A MINUTE… THE CHURCH ON ITS KNEES…?? THAT’S ACTUALLY THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH! ONLY WHEN THE CHURCH GETS ON ITS KNEES IN PRAYER WILL IT BEGIN TO GROW, FLOWER AND PROSPER IN THE WAYS OF JESUS! WHAT A REVELATION… AND THAT’S WHY WE ARE HERE THIS MORNING MY FRIENDS… TO BE ON OUR KNEES IN PRAYER FOR THIS CHURCH… NOW I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT WHEN I’M ON MY KNEES, I’M NORMALLY IN DESPARATION… BY THE TIME I GET TO MY KNEES, I HAVE GONE THROUGH ALL THINGS HUMAN… OUT OF FRUSTRATION OR SIMPLY GIVING UP… THERE IS A COMPLETE SUBMISSION TO JESUS… YET THIS IS WHERE JESUS WANTS US TO BE EVERY DAY! ON OUR KNEES DESPARATE IN PRAYER... BUT WHAT IS PRAYER? I WOULD DEFINE IT THIS WAY… BUILDING RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS THROUGH COMMUNICATION…
NOW, I KNOW IN OUR WORLD TODAY, THERE ARE ESSENTIALLY 2 KINDS OF PRAYER… THE FIRST IS WHAT I CALL THE 911 PRAYERS, PRAYERS OF ABSOLUTE CRISIS… I THINK OF THE BOY TAKING A GEOGRAPHY EXAM…AFTER THE EXAM, HE’S PRAYING ON HIS KNEES… PLEASE O LORD, MAKE PLEASE MAKE LOS ANGELES THE CAPITAL OF CALIFORNIA! MOMENTARY CRISIS PRAYERS … BUT THERE IS THAT SECOND CATEGORY OF PRAYER… AND THAT IS ENTERING A DEEP, HEART-FELT 2-WAY CONVERSATION WITH GOD… BUT IN THAT CONVERSATION, JESUS IS BLESSED WHEN WE ARE ON OUR KNEES… ON OUR KNEES SEEKING HIS WILL NOT JUST IN TIMES OF CRISIS, BUT ON A DAILY BASIS! BEING ON OUR KNEES IN DESPARATION EACH DAY FOR A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WILL OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES… IN FACT, JESUS HIMSELF OFFERS US THE BEST EXAMPLE OF PRAYER… ONE OF THE THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT JESUS IS THAT HE OFTEN LEFT HIS PEOPLE TO PRAY… IN FACT, THROUGHOUT HIS SHORT PHYSICAL LIFE, JESUS SPENDS LESS AND LESS TIME WITH HIS DISCIPLES AND MORE AND MORE TIME IN PRAYER… YOU REMEMBER OUR THEME VERSE FOR THE YEAR IS: ‘THAT NOT ONE WOULD BE LOST…’ JESUS PRAYS THAT TO HIS FATHER, AND THIS WOULD INDEED COME TRUE ONLY BECAUSE JESUS HIMSELF WAS ON HIS KNEES IN PRAYER… PRAYING FOR THE LOST. DESPARATE IN PRAYER… THIS PRAYER COMES IN THE CONTEXT OF A LARGER PRAYER THAT WE JUST READ. IN THAT PRAYER, JESUS PRAYS FOR HIMSELF…PRAYING…FATHER, GLORIFY ME IN YOUR PRESENCE… JESUS IS PRAYING FOR HIMSELF.. JESUS THEN GOES ON TO PRAY FOR THOSE HE WOULD BE LEAVING BEHIND. NOW THERE ARE 3 TAEKAWAYS FROM THIS, MY SHORTEST EVER SERMON TO YOU.. 3 LEARNINGS…
LAST ONE FIRST. JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS DISCIPLES… JESUS LOVES THEM SO MUCH HE COMMITS THEM TO HIS FATHER. YOU KNOW, ITS BEEN SAID THAT PRAYER IS THE FURNACE ROOM OF THE CHURCH. NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT PRAYER, TRY AS WE MIGHT. PRAYING FOR EACH OTHER… PRAYING FOR THE VESTRY ELECTIONS, PRAYING FOR WORSHIP, PRAYING FOR OUR OUTREACH… AND WE WILL DO THAT IN A MINUTE AS A PORTION OF OUR LEADERSHIP WILL COME UP AND PRAY FOR EVERY FACET OF THIS CHURCH! SEEKING GOD’S FACE FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS CHURCH! WHAT COULD BE MORE EXCITING! WHAT COULD BE MORE IMPORTANT! IN FACT, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITIES FOR THE CHURCH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS WAS ITS ABSOLUTE DEPENDANCE ON PRAYER, IN FACT THERE ARE 26 DIRECT REFERENCES TO IT THROUGHOUT ACTS. THE EARLY CHURCH WASN’T CORPORATE AS MUCH AS IT WAS PRAYERFILLED… ACTS 2:42…THEY DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO TEACHING, FELLOWSHIP, BREAKING OF BREAD AND PRAYER! I ENCOURAGE YOU TO PRAY FOR THE LEADERS OF OUR CHURCH EVERY DAY, TAKE HOME THE LIST OF THE SICK TAKE HOME THIS BULLETIN AND PRAY FOR THE LEADERS IN OUR ALIVE TEAM STRUCTURE! THE SECOND LEARNING IS A BIT MORE CONTROVERSIAL… THE LEARNING THAT JESUS PRAYS FOR HIMSELF. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I HEARD… BUT AL, I CAN’T PRAY FOR MYSELF WHEN THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING IN WAR, OR STARVING TO DEATH! JESUS WANTS YOU, HE NEEDS YOU TO PRAY FOR YOURSELF! LIKE HE PRAYED FOR HIMSELF TO GOD! HERE’S WHY.. IF PRAYER DEFINED IS BUILDING RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS THROUGH COMMUNICATION. THEN IF YOU’RE NOT TELLING JESUS WHAT’S ON YOUR HEART, IF YOU’RE NOT TELLING HIM ABOUT YOUR CONCERNS AND JOYS, THEN THE RELATIONSHIP ISN’T ALL IT COULD BE! THINK ABOUT YOUR BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD, IF YOUR ATTITUDE IS.. I CAN’T ASK HIM FOR ANYTHING, I CAN’T SHARE WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON IN MY HEART… WOULD HE OR SHE REALLY BE YOUR BEST FRIEND? YOU ARE LOVED SO MUCH… JESUS ADORES YOU SO MUCH THAT HE WANTS TO HEAR THE INNERMOST THOUGHTS OF YOUR HEART… REALIZE THIS, YOU AND I CAN SEE MORE ON OUR KNEES THAN A PHILOSOPHER CAN ON HIS TIPTOES… CAN WE BECOME COMPLETELY VULNERABLE BEFORE GOD, DESPARATE FOR HIM TO ACT IN OUR LIVES? THE CHURCH IS STRONGEST ON HITS KNEES… YOU AND I ARE STRONGEST ON OUR KNEES. THAT KIND OF LONGING BLESSES THE LORD. MY FRIENDS, DO YOU PRAY ON YOUR KNEES AT HOME? ONE OF MY FAVORITE PASSAGES COMES OUT OF 2ND CHRONICALS 7… IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE, I WILL HEAL THEIR LAND. ARE WE SEEKING THE FACE OF GOD? ARE WE TAKING THE TIME TO PAUSE AND GIVE TO JESUS THE INMOST THOUGHTS OF OUR HEARTS? MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME PERSONALLY, PAINFUL AS I WRESTLE WITH THE ANGELS OVER OUR CALL TO CHARLESTON. LEAVING THIS PLACE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT THINGS I’VE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE! NIGHTS SPENT TOSSING AND TURNING… STRUGGLING WITH THE CALL. GOING TO THE LORD ON MY KNEES SUBMITTING TO HIM, SUBMITTING THE PAIN IN MY HEART AS ONE SITTING NEXT TO ME… DAY IN AND DAY OUT, NIGHT IN AND NIGHT OUT…ON MY KNEES… AND YOU KNOW WHAT, SOMETIMES THAT PAIN WANES, GOES AWAY AND PEACE COMES, AND SOMETIMES NOT! I REMEMBER EARLY IN THE PROCESS, PRAYING THAT GOD WOULD SPEAK TO ME ABOUT THIS CALL… AND THIS IS WHAT I HEARD… BY STAYING AT ALL SAINTS, YOU WILL BE THWARTING THE NEXT LEADERSHIP TEAM THAT I HAVE SET FOR THIS PLACE… THAT’S A DEEPER REASON WHY I PRAY THAT NOT ONE WOULD BE LOST… BECAUSE JESUS HAS AN INCREDIBLE PLAN FOR THIS CHURCH! FOR EACH OF YOU! THROUGH THAT TIME, JESUS IS DOING HIS WORK TO SHAPE, AND MOLD MY WILL IN WAYS I CAN’T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND… AND THROUGH IT, IS GLORIFIED.. OUT OF THAT GLORY COMES THE
JESUS WANTS US TO:
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH HE WANTS US TO TAKE OUR DEEPEST BURDENS, OUR DEEPEST CONCERNS AND REGRETS TO HIM SO HE CAN MOLD AND SHAPE US… MY FRIENDS, I BELIEVE THE LORD IS DESPARATE TO HEAR FROM EACH OF YOU… BEYOND THE FORMAL WRITTEN PRAYERS, BEYOND THE LORD’S PRAYER… WHAT’S ON YOUR HEART, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO TELL HIM FROM YOUR SOUL? FROM DOWN HERE? PRAYER IS BUILDING RELATIONSHIP THROUGH GIVING HIM A GLIMPSE INTO THE REAL YOU! NOW, SOMETIMES IT’S BEST TO OFFER YOUR HEART FELT PRAYERS TO GOD THROUGH ANOTHER PERSON, AFTER ALL, UNLOADING SOMETHING FROM YOUR HEART MENTALLY WITHOUT WORDS… VERSES UNLOADING SOMETHING FROM YOUR HEART USING YOUR VOICE MAKES A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! AND THAT’S THE SECOND PART OF OUR WORSHIP TODAY, THAT YOU MIGHT FEEL COMFORTABLE ENOUGH TO COME FORWARD AND OFFER THAT BURDEN, THAT CONCERN, OR EVEN THAT JOY, OFFERING THAT TO ONE OF OUR PRAYER INTERCESSORS WHO ARE TRAINED TO PRAY WITH YOU FACE TO FACE. THESE INTERCESSORS ARE NOTHING NEW AT ALL SAINTS’, THEY ARE PRESENT FOR EVERY SERVICE WE HAVE, BUT TODAY, OUT OF THE IMPORTANCE TO BE A CHURCH ON OUR KNEES, I EMPHASIZE IT AGAIN AND URGE YOU TO COME TO THE CHRIST, SO OUR MISSION WOULD MEAN THAT MUCH MORE… SO MY FRIENDS, TO LIVE OUT BEING A CHURCH ON OUR KNEES, AFTER THE ANTHEM, A PORTION OF OUR LEADERSHIP WILL COME FORWARD, AND ON THEIR KNEES WILL PRAY FOR THE CHURCH, AND THEN AT THE END OF THE SERVICE, I URGE YOU TO GO TO THE SOUTH TRANSEPT OR ST. MARY’S CHAPEL WHERE CONTINUING ON YOUR KNEES YOU CAN PRAYER FOR YOU… FINALLY, LET ME CHALLENGE YOU, TRY THIS FOR JUST ONE WEEK.. BEFORE YOU GO TO WORK, BEFORE YOU LEAVE YOUR HOUSE IN THE MORNING, GET ON YOUR KNEES.. READ A PORTION OF SCRIPTURE, PRAY FOR OTHERS, PRAY FOR YOURSELF… AGAIN, ON YOUR KNEES IN QUIET DESPARATION AND WATCH THE LORD DO MIRACLES IN THE LIFE OF THIS CHURCH AND IN YOUR OWN LIFE. AMEN. |
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