As you know, I try to make sure that the focus of our mid-week study is almost always on prayer.   My reading this week took me to book of  Exodus chapters 3 & 4 where God meets with Moses while he is tending sheep.  God meets Moses where he is at on the hillside in the form of a burning bush that was not consumed.  As Moses makes his way to check it out, God calls to him:  “Moses, Moses.”  What would you have done?  Moses’ response was “Here I am” (3:4) and he and God have a conversation.  Was Moses excited to hear from God or was he frightened?  Maybe a little of both?  God gives Moses His plan for the Israelites and I am sure that Moses’ heart began to race as he heard what God had to say.  God had not forgotten the Israelites.  Moses has been gone and in hiding for 40 years and probably thought that God had forgotten all about them, but not so.

 Moses must have been excited until God said “I am sending you to Pharaoh…”  This is when the excuses begin.  “Who am I?”  What if they say who is this God?  “What is His name?” (3:13) God what do I do?  God gives Moses answers to all of his questions and then goes on to tell him what is actually going to happen.  God tells him that they will be released and that they will also plunder the Egyptians.  Is that enough?  Did God cover everything for you Moses?  Evidently not.  “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say ‘The Lord did not appear to you?'” (4:1)  God, what if I fail?  God’s word and promises were not enough for Moses.  He really did not want to do this so he asks for more proof, and God gives that to him.  Surely, that was enough?  Nope!  

God, I am not gifted.  I cannot do it.  “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to your servant, I am slow of speech and tongue.”  (4:10)  God reminds Moses that He is the One who gave Moses his mouth, ears, and eyes and He was also the One who would go with him to help him speak and give him the words to say.  Moses was out of excuses and finally says:  “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” (4:13)

You might think to yourself, what is wrong with Moses?  God was talking directly to him!  God wanted to use him!  God was going to go with him and even put the words in his mouth! God assured him of victory!  What is wrong with Moses???  Be careful!  How do we differ from Moses?  Moses was communicating with God and we call that prayer.  God was communicating with Moses and we call that the Word of God.  God wanted to use Moses and He desires to use us too.  He has given us the command  to go into all the world and preach and teach the Gospel.  We are to make disciples and that requires effort and a willingness to invest in other people.  When Jesus gave us the great commission He promised that He would always be with us.  This past Sunday we talked about the promises of God and the assurance of heaven.  In the end, we win!  We will be with Jesus and it will be the ultimate.  

Moses talked with God and he told Him of his concerns and reasons why he could not do what God was telling him to do.  I want to encourage you to let God know how you feel.  Tell Him about your concerns and fears.  Tell Him why you cannot do it.  Pray!  
Don’t be afraid to pray.  But then you need to have your Bible in hand and ask God to speak to you.  Ask Him to reveal His will and purposes  in His Word.  Read your Bible!  Ask for help in reading your Bible.  We are no different than Moses in many ways.  The sad thing is that many of us do not even take the time to pray and read the Bible, and yet we are expecting things to be different.  We live in fear.  We wonder what God is doing but we never even bother to check out the burning bush that does not burn.  Check out the bush!  Pray and read the Word.  I promise you that God will make Himself known to you in a very special way. 

As you already know, I try to make sure that the focus of our mid-week study is almost always on prayer.  I was reading in John 17 where Jesus is wrapping up His time with the disciples in the upper room the night before He was to be crucified.  Think about this:  It was in John 13 that Jesus sits down with His disciples and the first thing that He does is wash their feet.  Every one of them.  Even Judas!  He then enjoys a meal with them and He begins to teach.  I don’t know how much time He spent talking to them but I am sure that it went late into the evening and I am sure that the disciples were tired.  Chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16 are all filled with Jesus’ teaching.  It is in John 17 that Jesus begins to pray.  At the beginning of the chapter Jesus is praying for Himself.  Imagine that!  Why not?  We have told you over and over again that prayer is simply someone talking to God and Jesus is doing exactly that; He is talking to His Father.  He then turns to praying for His disciples.  He tells the Father that He has given the disciples all that He was to give them and then He asks the Father to protect them in the same way that Jesus protected them.  Jesus was going to be leaving them very shortly and all of them would scatter, and yet Jesus asks the Father to protect them.  Jesus says that He is not asking the Father to take them out of the world even though they are not of this world, but He is asking the Father to protect them and then to sanctify them by the Truth.  He goes on to say “Your Word is Truth.” (v.17)  So how is it that we are sanctified or set apart?  By the Word of God.  That is why we teach the Word of God.  That is why you need to read the Word of God.  It is important!  

Jesus then turns from praying for His disciples and then prays for you and for me.  Look at v.20 with me:  “My prayer is not for them (the disciples) alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.”   “Those who believe…” is you and me.  Jesus’ prayer for us is “…that all of them might be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You…”  Why pray that way?  “…so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” (v.21)  Jesus is implying that the unity of His followers, you and me, will be proof that the Father sent Jesus to the world.  Think about that.  Does the unity you have with other believers point people to Jesus?  Does the way that you talk about other believers show people that the Father sent Jesus to this world?  Believers’ unity is the result of being united with God.  So that would also imply that if there is not unity amongst believers that there is a mess up somewhere in the unity with God chain, right?  Are you the cause of that?  Am I the cause of that?  Jesus says it again in v.23:  “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.”  Our love for one another is to be an expression and imitation of the Father’s love for the Son, and the Son’s love for the Father.  

Verse 24 is really interesting.  Remember that Jesus is still praying and He continues to pray for us and about us in verse 24.  The whole purpose of salvation is communicated in this verse.  “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see my glory…”  Jesus’ desire is for us to be with Him and there is only one of two ways that that is going to happen.  Jesus is going to come back to get us or we are going to die.  To be with Jesus where He is at right now and to see Him in His glory would require us to die.  It is almost as though Jesus is saying to the Father, I want them with Me so either send Me to get them or bring them to me by their physical death.  The Bible tells us that “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”  (Psalm 116:15)   That is the way that God looks at your death if you are a believer.  That is an interesting prayer of Jesus, isn’t it?  

Jesus wants us to be with Him.  That is the ultimate!  Until then, His desire is that we would be like Him, and that it would be pressed in our love for other Christians.  All kinds.  The way you love other Christians is an expression of your relationship with God.  This is pretty important to Jesus, because this is how He closes his time on earth with His disciples.  It ought to be important to us too.  

If you are at all like most of us, you have read this story and had it taught to you many, many times.  You might even remember the flannel graph from your childhood Sunday School days.  It is the story of the Good Samaritan.  If you have your Bible, I would encourage you to open it to Luke 10:25-37 and take a couple of minutes to read it right now.

When I read the story I took the time to write down on a sheet of paper all of the people who are mentioned or participated in the story.  Check out the following list:
-Jesus
-The Lawyer
-The man who was beaten
-The robbers
-The priest
-The Levite
-The Samaritan
-The innkeeper

Do you see them?  If the Bible specifically mentions each one of them, then I thought that it might be a good idea for us to give a little attention to each of them as well.  To give you a little bit of background, Jesus has just received a report from the 72 that He had earlier sent out two-by-two to the countryside to share the Good News.  The 72 come back rejoicing and praising God for all that He had done through them and v.21 tells us that Jesus was full of joy because it was these simple, uneducated men that God was using.  Things are on a high and this lawyer comes along.  If you want to bring someone down from a high, tell him that a lawyer is on the phone.  This lawyer comes to Jesus and seemingly asks a pretty good question;  “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus asks him “what is written in the law” and the lawyer gives Jesus a very clear and concise answer that Jesus says is correct.   He tells him to “Do this and you will live.”  The lawyer goes on to ask Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” which reveals his true heart.  The Bible tells us that he was wanting to justify himself.  How?  The lawyer was looking to exclude himself from responsibility for others by making some people “non-neighbors.”  The lawyer did not see a victim to exploit, or a nuisance to avoid, but to him, this was a problem to discuss.  The best way to do nothing is to talk about it. The thing we like to do is to have meetings to talk about the problems and the remedies rather than do something.  The lawyer said, “Let’s talk about neighboring” but Jesus said “Let’s talk about this one man.”  There are lots of people in the church today who know how to point out the problems and discuss potential remedies, but they do nothing.  They even have the right answers to the questions but that is where it stops.  Do you see him?

Perhaps you might identify with the man who was beaten?  You did not deserve what you got.  You were just walking along the road and this happens.  You have no idea why people treat you the way that they do.  “What didI do to deserve this?”  Perhaps you statement is something like “I don’t know why I was born the way I was born.”  Maybe life is hard and unfair for you and you just cannot get ahead.  You do not have what others have so you are always working seemingly from behind.  Notice that we hear nothing from the man who was beaten.  His situation was dire and he was on the verge of dying.  There was nothing that he could do to save himself.  He needed help and there were people who were traveling that same road who could have helped him but they chose to pass him by.  As unkind and wrong as that is, we hear this man say nothing.  “That’s not right!”  “That’s not fair!”  “something should be done!”  “I want justice!”  “Someone needs to pay for this!”  Not a word!  Do you see him?

 Let’s take a look at the robbers.  They saw an opportunity to exploit and take advantage of someone.  Our world is not much different today.  People have gotten bold enough to break into other people’s homes and businesses and feel as though they have the right to take whatever they want.  Their thinking is something like this:  “I don’t have it, and yet I want it.  You have it, so I am going to take it from you.”  Where does that kind of thinking come from?  What has happened that we seem to think that we can justify people beating up and robbing other people just so they can have what they want?  Some end up in the court system for months to determine if they are guilty or not.  Why?  Jesus calls people like that robbers.  We all know that you do not need to break into someone’s home or business to be considered a robber.  There is all kinds of corruption in business and government and non-profits and even churches where people are robbing one another.  Robbery comes in all shapes and forms.  If you think about it, based on Malachi 3, the church is full of robbers today.  God tells His people in that passage that they are under a curse because they are robbers.  They rob God of His tithes and offerings.  We really do not know much about the robbers in this story, but we do know from Isaiah 61:8 that God hates robbers, and Jesus calls these men robbers.  What more needs to be said?  Do you see him? 

Maybe you might identify with the priest?  He passed by on the other side of the road.  You say, “not me” but consider this:  he did not want to get involved.  Maybe he was late for a leadership meeting or maybe the Sunday service was about to start and he could not be late.  The priest did not see and individual.  In fact, he probably saw something that he had seen many times before.  This road from Jerusalem to Jericho was about 30 miles long and it was known for all kinds of shady activity.  It was the “bad neighborhood” and this kind of thing was common place.  Maybe it was a drug deal that had gone bad.  Maybe this guy was messing around with another guy’s girl and he got what was coming to him.  The priest did not know what the situation was, nor did he seem to care, because he did not even stop.  Why didn’t the priest consider that maybe, just maybe, God might have known what was going on and thee was a divine appointment scheduled for the priest and this man, but he missed it.  This man was in need and the priest was able to help him, but something else was more important.  He was a man on the verge of dying and the “priest” or “pastor” or “elder” or “evangelist” just passed him by.  Do you see him?

Maybe it is the Levite who you can relate to.  He was a really busy guy.  He was the one who did most of the work in the church and it was the priest who usually got all of the praise.  The Levite was the assistant to the priest.  He was the worship leader.  His responsibility was to be sure that the services went smoothly and on this particular day he might have had the responsibility to lead the worship service.  Maybe he was responsible for the special music, or he had to setup the meeting place, or he had to get things ready in the kitchen for the fellowship to follow the services.  He was more like the “behind the scenes worker” who rarely was ever recognized.  The work that they do is very important and is very much needed in the church, but today he missed it.  For whatever reason, Jesus describes him as the one who came to him, saw him, and passed by on the other side.  Do you see him?

Thank God that a Samaritan came along.  Why a Samaritan?  Why did Jesus have to say a Samaritan?  Anyone but a Samaritan!  Samaritans were despised and rejected by the Jews and yet it was the Jews who Jesus was talking to.  Jesus was a Jew!  Samaritans were “half-breeds” and they were good for very little in the eyes of the Jews, and yet Jesus says that it was the Samaritan who helped this man.  The Pharisees who were listening were furious!  The thought that a Samaritan could show more love and compassion than a Jew was scandalous.  Jesus tells us that the Samaritan came to where the man was.  He pulled back the covers and saw a human being in need, serious need.  We are not sure if the injured man was a Jew or Samaritan, but that did not matter to the Samaritan.  The man was bleeding so the Samaritan treats his wounds with oil, binds them up, puts him on his donkey, and then he walks while this total stranger rides.  We don’t know where they are on this road, but remember that it was 30 miles long and it could have been a 15 mile walk in either direction.  He might have continued on to where he was going or he might have had to back-track, but it did not matter because this was a man in serious need.  The Samaritan takes him to the inn, took care of him after getting him a room, got him settled, and then made financial and medical arrangements to have him cared for.  He did not stop there.  He came back a couple of days later to check not he man and pay any additional costs for his care.  Some of us will do what the Samaritan did and some of you have, but often times we stop somewhere in the middle.  Maybe we stay at the accident scene until the paramedics arrive.  Maybe we even follow the ambulance to the hospital.  Some of you might start a “Go-Fund-Me” page to help with expenses.  All of that is awesome!  The Samaritan privately told the innkeeper that he would take care of all of this.  He saw a person in need of help and he took care of it without anyone else knowing about it except for the innkeeper.  It made no difference to him if he wa a Jew, Samaritan, Caucasian, Arab, Black, Indian, Asian, or Hispanice man.  It did not matter if he was filthy dirty or filthy rich, blue collar or white collar, gang member or politician, drug addict or doctor, dropout or professor.  It did not matter!  As long as we continue to put people into categories, it will make it easier for us to pass them by when they are in need.  Do you see him?

Maybe you are the innkeeper.  He provided the place for the injured man.  He had the space available.  He was probably a nice guy as he opened his inn to these two men.  What did he have to lose?  The Samaritan was footing the bill for the room as well as any additional expenses.  If the room was messed up or the sheets had to be tossed, it did not matter because the Samaritan was going to cover the costs,  Some people are happy to do anything as long as they are paid for it.  After all, this was a paying customer and I have nothing to lose.  Do you see him? 

Most of the tragedies in people’s lives are not physical.  Most do not require you to what the Samaritan did.  Most of the people around us who are hurting do not have wounds that are bleeding out.  But if you have the eyes of the Samaritan, and if you are looking, you will find people that are hurting.  You will not be remembered for making all of the meetings on time or how full your schedule is doing good stuff.  Jesus turned to the lawyer and asked him “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man in need?”  The answer was obvious; it was the man who took mercy on him, the Samaritan.  The Samaritan probably could not preach a sermon or even teach a SS lesson to kids or sing in the choir.  But he knew enough to have a sympathetic heart to reach out and help this man in need.  The real question is not “who is my neighbor” but rather “to whom can I be a neighbor?”  Jesus said “Go and do likewise.”

Do you see them? 

My Bible reading today took me to Matthew 7 where Jesus has been preaching a powerful sermon that started in Mathew 5.  Jesus has given us the Beatitudes that cut through any reason or excuse people might have for not serving Jesus the way we ought.  He goes on to tell us that we are salt and light in the earth, and that they both have purpose in His plan of redemption.  Jesus then goes on to talk about His fulfillment of the Law and not the abolishment of it.  He talks about the “biggies” like murder, adultery, divorce and being a man or woman of your word.  Jesus talks about turning the other cheek, loving our enemies, and giving to the needy.  He continues by talking about prayer, fasting, having a heavenly perspective, and worry.  You would think that He has hit everything and then Jesus takes on the subject of judging others in Matthew 7.

Just when we think that we just might have made it into the clear, Jesus hits something that none of us escape, judging others.  We all do it in one form or another.  I know that I do.  As hard as I try not to do so, there are times when I fail miserably.  I question motives.  I allow my mind to wander and make judgements as to why some people do the things that they do and why others do not do what they should do because, after all, I know what everyone is supposed to do.  Wrong!!!  We all do it!  Jesus is talking to His followers here in this passage.  They were sitting through a pretty long sermon so they must have been serious followers and probably even committed to their “religion.”  Jesus obviously has their attention and then comes the passage that hit me like a ton of bricks.  Matthew 7:21-23  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me you evildoers!'”  

Did you get that?  Jesus is talking to people who were sermon-hearers, Bible-readers, synagogue-goers, and yet they were people who were lost in a dream.  Someone said “they were traveling toward hell with their church clothes on.”  These are people who think that they are Christians, followers of Christ, but they are not!  They obviously had a tremendous amount of respect for Jesus in that they called Him “Lord, Lord.”  These people had the right names for Jesus.  They knew who He was.  It is obvious that they were emotionally attached to Him.  They might have even got chills down their spines when he preached and taught.  Their cry might have been “I feel and therefore I am saved.”  Emotions don’t cut it!  There were some who would say “I have done great things for God, and thus, I am saved.”  Some even drove out demons and performed miracles.  I have never done that, have you?  They took action in Jesus’ name.  Some of them were great teachers and communicators and there were even those who would prophesy.  They were used of God and yet Jesus says “I never knew you.”

I never knew you!  I don’t know about you, but for me as a pastor, those words are what I believe to be the scariest words in the Bible.  These were people who were obviously going through the motions.  They had no relationship with Jesus.  They knew about Him.  They listened to His sermons.  They liked Him and thought that He was a very good man.  They followed Him.  They got a tingle down their spine every once in a while.  They felt good being around Him for the most part, but I have to believe at this point in His sermon, there might have been some who said “What?”  Too often people think wrongly.  They thought that hearing was sufficient; that feeling was enough; and that public displays of religion would do the trick.  The sad thing is that they wandered as if they were in a dream, trusting that they had heard, that they felt, or that they did something, and Jesus said:  “I never knew you.”  

As your pastor, what I want to know more than anything is do you know Him, and does He know you?  If there were people sitting under the teaching of the Son of God who Jesus said He never knew, then I have to believe that there just might be some in the church today that Jesus does not know.  It is time for us as a church to get serious about our relationship with Jesus.  He is not looking for any “hanger-oners”, but rather people who are sold out to Him and His will for your life.  Let’s stop playing the game.  Let’s love the people that Jesus loves.  Let’s love people the way that Jesus loves people.  Let’s deal with sin in our own lives and not worry about those around us.  Remove the log in our own eye before addressing the speck in the eye of that other person who drives you crazy.  Let’s put others, and the needs of others, before our own desires and wants.  Let the people of NWBC make it obvious, overwhelmingly obvious to those around us, that we are followers of Jesus in the way that we treat one another and love one another.

Our Wednesday focus has typically been on prayer so I am going to ask you to pray.  Pray earnestly!  Pray that God would do a work in your life first.  Ask Him to show you what you must do or what you need to change.  Please pray for me!!  Please pray for our church!!!  

I want to see God move in NWBC in a special way.  I would love to see God add people to our church for our good and His glory.   

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself being a little more observing of the things around me.  We have a creek that flows through our property and with all of the recent rains, the front area of our lawn has become a pond.  One of the most enjoyable things about rain is being able to sit and be still and listen to the falling rain.  With rain, what was once brown grass is now once again green and in need of mowing.  I was out really early Monday morning mowing and I noticed something else.  Birds were seemingly everywhere, and they were really noisy.  It was a whole lot cooler than what it had been, and I am sure that they were enjoying the relief from the heat because they were singing at the top of their little lungs.  The much needed rain seemed to bring life to so many things that were on the bring of death.  Robbi’s corn was once again growing tall, the grass was turning green, the clouds were white and fluffy, the breeze blew softly, the sky was blue, the tree leaves were swinging in the breeze, the birds were singing, and it seemed as though all of creation was singing as well.

The Psalmist gives us a very similar picture in Psalm 104 where he begins with this:  “Praise the Lord, O my soul.”   I don’t know if that is an invite, a suggestion, or a command.  Whatever it is, it is medicine for the soul.  The writer goes on and says:  “O Lord my God, You are very great;  You are clothed with splendor and majesty.” and then he procedes to talk about it and give us a description.  He talks about the heavens, the clouds, the wind and the flames of fire.  He talks about the waters, mountains, valleys, springs and ravines.  He then goes on to talk about the beasts of the field, donkeys, birds and the branches of the trees.  Grass, cattle, plants, trees, the moon, the sun, lions, the sea, the creatures of the sea, and man.  In verse 27 he says “These all look to You to give them their food at the proper time.”  I thought what was interesting is that the writer says that they “all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.”  

Is that true of man?  Is that true of me?  Is that true of you?  Do you look to God to provide at the proper time?  The animals do.  All creation does, but I am not sure about man.  Man seems to want it now, and if that does not happen we have a problem.  We do not always like God’s timing.  All of creation seems to be singing praise to God but man?  I’m not sure.  Why is it that they all sing?  Where does that come from?  In that list the writer mentions birds twice.  Is there anything significant about that?  I’m not sure, but why not mention lions twice or maybe even man?  Birds seem so insignificant.  It is nice to hear them sing, but if you have them in your barn they make a mess.  What is so special about birds?

Jesus talked about birds in His very special sermon on the mount.  He tells us plain and simple to not worry.  That sounds easy doesn’t it?  Not!  We seem to have all kinds of things to worry about, especially in our world today.  It can be very difficult to watch the news and hear all that is going on and not worry about your kids or grandchildren.  Are you worried about the Coronavirus or the upcoming election.  Jesus then tells us to “…look at the birds of the air…”   Why birds again?  He says that they do not sow food; they do not harvest food; and they do not even can or freeze food for a later date.   They simply rely on God to feed them and that is exactly what He does.  He feeds them.  These are just birds!  In Matthew 10 Jesus talks about birds again.  In verse 29 He asks “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.”  Those birds that are only worth a half cent each exist inside the will of God, and He feeds them too.  Think about that for a minute.  Walk outside and listen to the birds.  Look to the sky and observe the clouds or listen to the rain.  Feel the breeze or the warmth of the sun.  Is it any wonder that all creation sings?  Is it any wonder that birds sing?  

We have been spending most all of these mid-week devotionals focusing on prayer and this week is no different.  If you remember, I previously shared with you an acrostic that helps me when I pray:
A-Ackowledge God for who He is; praise Him
C-Confess sin
T-Thanksgiving
S-Supplication; ask God 

Psalm 104 is a prayer that begins with Acknowledgement of who God is and the Psalm ends with the same thing.  Check it out:  “Praise the Lord, O my soul” and “Praise the Lord, O my shoul.  Praise the Lord.”   The psalmist never gets past praising God, and quite honestly, that is a pretty good prayer.  I would encourage you to take a few minutes to read Psalm 104 and then walk outside, take a look around, and praiseHim.  It is a great way to start your day!

Do you ever feel like God is not answering your prayers?  We have all been there.  We ask questions like “Are my prayers all wrong?” or “Is there something that I am doing wrong?”  “How long are we supposed to pray if God continues to ignore me?”  Ignore you?  Really?  It might feel like that but I can assure you that God is not ignoring you.  Why do we lay the blame for unanswered prayer at the feet of God?  Why is it that we think that He is ignoring me?  Could it be that I am asking for something that is outside of the will of God?  Psalm 84:11 says this about our God:  “…no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”  Ok Jerry, whose walk is blameless?  If that is the case then none of us have a chance.  Another version of the Bible translates that verse as “…no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”  None of us is without sin and that is often how we look at the word “blameless.”  We are blameless because of the blood of Jesus.  This is speaking of those whose faith is genuine.  If our faith is genuine, that will lead to us to do the will of God and live in the center of His will.  Being a Christian has its privileges.  

So how do we look at this verse?  Well, what is your definition of a good thing?  Do you suppose that what you call a good thing and what God calls a good thing might be a little different?  You might be praying for a husband, or children, or a new job, or maybe even to win the lottery so that you can give the church 25% of your winnings.  All of those things sound like they would be a good thing, but God just might think differently and His opinion is the only one that counts.  Just because something might make us happy doesn’t mean that it is good for us.  So I guess we, as Christians, are just supposed to suck it up and if we are miserable, then we are miserable.  NO! NO! NO!  Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 7:11 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”  As much as we all want our children to be happy, you know that there are times when you must say “no” because it is not best for them.  Parents know those kinds of things most of the time, but God knows what is best all of the time.  God might very well be sparing you a greater heartache down the road by saying “no” now.  I can testify to that many times over in my own life.  There are things that I earnestly asked God to do or provide and I honestly believed that my motives were pure and good, and God said “no”.  I look back now and am so grateful that God spared me the heartache that I now know I would have experienced.  

Perhaps God is waiting for you to be obedient.  Are you really walking uprightly?  When no one else is looking, are you walking uprightly?  Is your life not only obedient to Him but is it also surrendered to Him?  Is it a life that is in step with the will and purposes of God?

Perhaps it is not the right time.  Maybe God has not said “no” but might be saying “wait.”  There is no one who has a better view of the road of your life than God.  He knows what is ahead and around the corner.  Think about that and rest assured that His timing is better than yours.

Perhaps it just might be that God has something better in mind for you.  Think about this for a minute:  God is good, He knows what is best for us, He loves you, He knows exactly what you need even when you do not, so would it not stand to reason that sometimes He says “no” or He closes a door because He has something better for us that we have not even thought about.  Have you ever had one of those “Oh yeah, I never thought about that” moments?  Have you ever said “I sure am glad that I did not do that” after looking at the current circumstances you find yourself in?  You do understand that last week God saw your circumstances that you find yourself in today.  

We need to learn to trust God in a whole new way.  We need to know, understand, and remember His character.  We need to remember that He always desires what is best for us and even when we move ahead without His blessing, He is gracious and merciful to us when we find ourselves in the mess.  Avoid the mess.  Talk to Him, submit to Him , and trust Him now, so that you can avoid the mess that you cannot see and is right around the corner.  Learn how to pray trusting that our heavenly Father really does know best.
 

If you were with us this past Sunday, you will remember that we looked at Romans 15:13 in particular and talked about the hope that comes with being a Christian and the resulting joy and peace that accompanies it.  I defined hope as we understand it from Romans as the certainty of a reality not yet fully experienced.  This is not a hope that says “I hope everything works out ok” but rather the assurance that it will because our God is in control.  As Christians, we should not be overcome with worry because we know the promises of God as we have read them in Scripture, and because we have experienced the fulfillment of His promises in our own lives.  Romans 15:13 says:  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him…”  Remember that I said if your trust is in anything other than Him and His promises, you will have disaster.

With that as our background, I want to take a look at how we pray.  As you might know, for the most part, I try to have our Wednesday studies centered on prayer.  I want our church to be known as the church that prays and desire that people will come to us to pray for them.  As I was reading one of my morning devotionals, I could not help but see how well the devotional from Max Lucado on Tuesday morning continued with our study from Sunday.  It is titled Practicing the Presence and his focus is on how we pray throughout the day, morning, noon, and night, as well as everything in between.  I have found that when I pray, even when in the midst of a mess, that my focus turns more toward God and away from me.  I want to encourage you to check it out and let me know your thoughts.

How do I live in God’s presence? How do I detect His unseen hand on my shoulder and His inaudible voice in my ear? A sheep grows familiar with the voice of the shepherd. How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into His presence. I have a friend who makes it a habit to roll out of his bed onto his knees and begin his day in prayer.  Personally, I don’t get that far. With my head still on the pillow and my eyes still closed, I offer God the first seconds of my day. The prayer is not lengthy and far from formal. Depending on how much sleep I got, it may not even be intelligible. Often it’s nothing more than “Thank you for a night’s rest. I belong to you today.”
Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with Him in silence. The mature married couple has learned the treasure of shared silence; they don’t need to fill the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent with God. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10 NIV). Awareness of God is a fruit of stillness before God. 

Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries Christians have learned the value of brief sentence prayers, prayers that can be whispered anywhere, in any setting.

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as “Thank you, Father,” “Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord,” “You are my resting place, Jesus” can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.

And last, give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on Him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Thank Him for the good parts. Question Him about the hard parts. Seek His mercy. Seek His strength. And as you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4 NIV). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.

As you can see, when we are told to pray continually or to pray without ceasing, it is something that can very easily be done.  The real question is do you realize how dependent you are on Him, and do you have any idea how much He loves you?  If we did, we would talk to Him all of the time.  I am hopeful that this will encourage you with whatever you might face today and then again tomorrow and the days after that.  Let’s commit ourselves to praying more and to praying for each other.  Grab your new directory that was passed out this past Sunday and look through it.  Ask God to put someone on your heart and then pray for them and maybe even give them a call.  

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”  (James 5:6-7)

This was written by a man who had been there.  Peter was the guy who, when in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, was terrified like the rest of the disciples. When he saw Jesus walking on the water he said:  “Lord, if it’s You, tell me to come to You on the water.”  Jesus simply told Peter to come and Peter walked on the water just like Jesus!  That was unbelievable faith to even jump out of the boat!  The Bible goes on to tell us that “…when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’”   That was a pretty specific prayer!  I’m sinking, Lord save me!  Does that prayer sound familiar?  If not, maybe something like one of these does:  I’m scared, Lord save me!  I cannot take it anymore, Lord save me!  I’m tired and I need rest, Lord save me!  I’ve done all that I can and I am seemingly getting no where, Lord save me!  I am afraid of all kinds of things, Lord save me!  I worry about everything, Lord save me!  Are you beginning to sink? 

Whatever your situation, have you prayed with the earnestness that Peter did as he was sinking?  I mean really prayed?  How can prayer help us transition from panic to peace?  How can we move from panic, to peace, to praise?  Is it even possible?  You might say that you do pray with earnestness.  You have begged God to save you.  You have prayed continuously, even to the point where you have gotten very little sleep if any at all.  When you “awake” in the morning, you have come to the realization that your bedtime prayer has driven you to be a morning wreck and you are beyond yourself for the rest of the day.  Let me ask you something:  did your bedtime prayers focus on your negative feelings rather than on God’s assurances and promises?  Let me ask that again:  were your prayers last night focused more on the negative and all that could go wrong and asking God to not let it go wrong, than on the promises and assurances that God has given us all throughout His Word?  More than just His Word, has He ever fallen short in His care for you?  Ever?  Has He fallen asleep and your worry is that He just might not come through this time?  Really???  Unless we pray in faith, our prayers can do more harm than good!  When you start to bring your laundry list of all that is going wrong to God in prayer, your focus moves from Who you are praying to, to what you are praying about.  You are putting your focus on something other that the One who has the power to change things.  Now wonder you are beside yourself!  No wonder you are overcome with worry!  No wonder you are consumed with fear!  Your God has become too small for you!  Your problems, your problems, are bigger than your God!

Someone said:  “God doesn’t always say yes to all our requests, but He listens with unusual attentiveness when two or three gather in united prayer-and He responds in His own way and time with power and wisdom.”  When the Israelites stood between the Red Sea and the oncoming Egyptian army, do you think they prayed?  Their prayer was not only united, they had never been more earnest.  There was no religious ritual that they practiced; they were panicked and their outburst was real!  Exodus 14:10 tells us that “they were terrified and cried out to the Lord.”  This is a perfect example of how we pray sometimes.  Disaster is all around us and yes we cry out to the Lord.  Yes we are earnest.  But do you really believe that God is going to answer your cry?  The fact is that we are more like the Israelites than we realize.  Exodus 14:11 says:  They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?  What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?”  Does that sound like a prayer of faith?  Does that sound like the Israelites really believe that God can and will do something?  They prayed, but they definitely didn’t imagine that God would actually answer their prayers.  Do your prayers sound like that?  You pray for all that is going on around us, and you ask God to move in a special way, and then you turn around and give your viewpoint on the matter.  You complain and tell people about the problem and the mess rather than about the God to whom you just prayed.  You pray and ask God to give you strength and peace in the middle of a pandemic, and then you talk to your spouse or friend about all of the worries of the world.  Does that sound like you?  Does that sound like a prayer of faith?  Think about your prayers for a minute.

Listen to the way the men and women of the Bible prayed, and then compare it to the way that you pray:

• Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jarius, came there.  Seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet and pleaded earnestly with Him. “My little daughter is dying.  Please come and put Your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”  (Mark 5:22-23)
• There was a centurion who heard about Jesus and he had a servant that he loved who became sick and was about to die.  When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with Him…(Luke 7:4)
• Elijah was a man just like us.  He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.  (James 5:17)
• Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”  (Colossians 4:2)

When you pray, do start by recognizing just Who it is that you are talking to?  Do you acknowledge Him for Who He is?  Do you understand that He is the only One who can do anything?  Do you then even think about thanking Him?  Knowing that He is all powerful, and that He already knows your needs, that He loves you, do you thank Him that He would even consider hearing your prayers?  Do you thank Him for all that He has already done?  Have you counted your blessings?  Is the focus of your prayer on your problems or on Him

James 5:17 tells us this:  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  Do you believe that?  Really?  Are your prayers not powerful and effective?  Why is that?  That would imply that one of two things is wrong:  You are not a righteous man, a believer.  Lots of people pray in times of crisis.  How often have you heard non-believers say that we need to pray?  The other implication is that your prayers do not line up with the will of God.  Maybe you are asking God to remove something from your life, a stress or worry, and God has it there to draw you closer to Him.  You keep praying and asking God to remove it but He wants it there for your good and His glory.  Not my will, but Yours be done.  That is not easy!  That can open up a can of worms that you never expected.  “Why would God allow this?” you ask.  You then go on to complain that “God doesn’t care” or that “He is not listening.”  Try this instead:  “God, you know my heart.  You know my worries.  You know about all of the stress in my life.  I cannot do anything on my own other than to pray.  So that is what I am doing right now.  Please show me what You would have me to know as I cast all of my anxiety at Your feet, because I KNOW that you love me and care for me (1Peter 5:7).

May God bless each of you as you work through these difficult times.  God remains on His throne.  Nothing has ever gotten past Him and nothing ever will.  Do you really believe that?  My hope is that you will experience His presence in a very special way as you pray with earnestness!  If we can be of help to you or pray for you, please let us know.  Know that we pray for each of you regularly.

Jerry & Robbi

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night…”  (Psalm 92:1-2 ESV)

On our way to church Sunday morning Robbi and I were talking to two of our girls in Michigan.  We had planned to leave the next morning to make the trip to Michigan to visit with all four of our daughters because our daughter who has been battling Covid-19 and her husband were up there and it was a good excuse to visit our newest grandson.  Our plan was to leave early Monday morning and return on Tuesday but then we found out that our two nurses were going to be working Monday night so we decided to leave right after church.  We rushed home after church, packed the car, and then headed to Michigan.  It is a trip of a little over 4 hours so there is plenty of time to talk, think, listen, and pray.  Robbi and I were both very tired so she was able to sleep for a little bit and when she did that I found myself praying.  I am always amazed at how quickly my prayers turn to asking God for things and stuff.  Some of the things are real needs, in my life and in the lives of others; people like you.  It is a time when I can work through my grocery list of prayers for me, my wife, my children, and my church family.  Whenever I do that, I come away feeling pretty good in that I did what I said that I was going to do and that was to pray for you.  It is always a time of satisfaction and I feel pretty good after doing that, but there is still that …”ugh”.  Why is that?

On Monday morning I was up before everyone so I showered and told Robbi that I was going for a ride.  As I did that, I determined that the focus of my time behind the wheel was going to be spent giving God thanks for everything that I could think of.  The cool thing is that I never reached the end of my prayer list.  There was plenty of material for that prayer.  I did not exhaust that list.  I had plenty to talk to God about and the funny thing is that as I talked and He listened, that other list from the day before became almost silly.  Almost.  I realized that the God to whom I was talking already knew that list from the day before.  I have prayed that several times before.  It is the list that will be attached at the end of this brief devotional.  It is a good list, but the list from Monday morning did not come from the email that I put together.  That list flowed out of a heart of gratitude for all that God has done and all that He continues to do.

Look at the verse above:  “It is good to give thanks to the Lord…”  Why would the psalmist write that?  First of all because God told him to, but then I have to believe that this truth is something that he learned.  It goes on to say: “to sing praises to Your name, O Most High…”  Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to complain and gripe and worry when you are busy giving thanks and singing praises to God?  If you have not noticed that yet, then you have not even given it a try.  Try it!  Give thanks to God!  Start with your salvation.  Move on to the children that He has given to you.  If you do not have children, thank Him for your spouse.  If you do not have a spouse, move on to your parents.  Everyone has parents.  Maybe you don’t know them; maybe they are no longer here; but you do have parents that God determined in eternity past.  From there you can move on to your health or home or food or friends.  If you are reading this, I know that you have a church that loves and cares for you so thank God for that!!!  Then, sing praises to Him!  Try some of the old hymns like “How Great Thou Art” or “It is Well With My Soul.”  There are some great Praise & Worship songs that are full of praise.  Why do it?  Because the Bible says that it is good. 

If you don’t know what to do or when to do it, or you need to be reminded, look at what the psalmist says next:  “…to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night…”  Talk about the love of God in the morning.  I promise you that it will set the tone for your day.  Think about how much God loves you.  There is an old hymn that I absolutely love when I think about the picture that it paints.  Read the words and let your mind paint the picture yourself.

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

Talk about, meditate on, and bask in the Love of God as you start your day.  When the day is over and you are exhausted, lay your head on your pillow and think about the faithfulness of God this same day.  Just look at today and you be be blown away.  “Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your many blessings see what God hath done.” It is perfectly ok to fall asleep praying and counting your blessings.  God will be good with that!  Another great hymn to reflect on morning or night, or both in the same day is Great is Thy Faithfulness.  Check out the words in just the chorus:

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness,  Lord, unto me!

I guess that what I am learning is that the more that I do this the more it causes me turn my eyes away from the prayer list and to Jesus.  It is amazing how much it will impact your day.  Sort of sounds like that could be a song, doesn’t it?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,  Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,  In the light of His glory and grace.

Morning and Night.  Give it a try and then tell someone about it.

Know that we are praying for you and that we are always here if you need someone to talk to or pray with.

Jerry & Robbi

I have a book that was given to me by a dear friend when unknown to him, I was going through a pretty rough time.  He told me to read it and then read it again.  I have shared this book with many, many people since because it is a very small and short book, but man does it ever hit home at just the right time.  It takes lessons from the experience of the Israelites around the Red Sea as the Egyptian soldiers are barreling in on them and they were certain that they were all going to be killed.  The subtitle of the book is “The same God who led you in will lead you out.”  Just the realization of that subtitle has been a real source of encouragement to me more than once.  Do you realize that wherever you find yourself right now, at this very moment, has been ordered by God?  He knows exactly where you are at and He knows exactly what your needs are.  There is no better place to be than in full view of an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-gracious, all-merciful God.  Matthew Henry said:  “God brings us into straits that He may bring us to our knees.”  Are you on your knees yet?  If not, God just might take you a little further into the strait. 

I am going to share a brief portion of that book with you and it is titled Seaside Prayers.  I hope that it is a blessing to you and that it causes you to see your circumstances through the eyes of God.

Some situations have offered me just two options-I could either panic or pray.  My tendency is to panic, like the Israelites by the Red Sea or the disciples on the Sea of Galilee.  I’ve had my share of hyperventilating, heart-racing panic attacks.  But the Lord has spent years trying to show me that prayer is the means by which I can, if I choose, stay even-tempered, self-possessed, cool-headed, and strong spirited, even in crisis.

When we can’t press forward, move sideward, or step backward, it’s time to look upward and to ask God to make a way.  In a time of uncertainty, the patriarch Jacob said, “Let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone” (Gen 35:3).

Referring to his days as a fugitive, David wrote, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God.  He heard my voice from His temple” (2Sam 22:7).  The writer of Psalm 107 declared,        
            They cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
            And He brings them out of their distress.
            He calms the storm,
            So that its waves are still. (vv.28-29)

That’s just what happened as the Israelites cried out to God at the Red Sea, except there the waves became trembling walls of water, held back by invisible dams.

I’m not talking about our regular, daily quiet-time prayer habits, important as they are; I’m talking about crisis-time prayers.  Prayers of importunity and intensity.  Prayers during life-threatening, or soul-shattering events…The Israelites were in crisis in Exodus 14, and their seaside cry was urgent, united, unfeigned, but unbelieving.

The urgency of their prayer was obvious, evidenced by the verb cried.  I had a friend in college who gave me a little booklet her father Cameron Thompson, had written, titled Master Secrets of Prayer.  My copy is now underlined and tattered, but I treasure it and have these words underlined:

There comes a time, in spite of our soft, modern ways, when we must be desperate in prayer, when we must wrestle, when we must be outspoken, shameless and importunate.  Many of the prayers recorded in Scripture are “cries,” and the Hebrew and greek words are very strong.  Despite opinions to the contrary, the Bible recognizes such a thing  as storming heaven-“praying through.”  The fervent prayer of a righteous man is mighty in its working.

I remember such times in my own life-when my father suffered a heart attack, when a job possibility blew up in my face, when a friend was overdosing on cocaine, when my child got involved in the wrong crowd.  There was little I could do except plead with God.  Sometimes these prayers are prolonged.  Twice in my life I’ve spent the entire night in prayer.

Other times, however, my prayers are quite short.  I’ve recently learned a new prayer technique from the writings of missionary Amy Carmichael.  She learned it from the famous Bible teacher Dr. F.B. Meyer, who once told her that as a young man he had been irritable and hot-tempered.  An older gentleman advised him to look up at the moment of temptation and say, “Thy sweetness, Lord.”

Amy Carmichael developed many variations of that prayer.  When meeting someone she didn’t like, she would silently pray, “The love, Lord.”  In crisis, she’d whisper, “Thy help, Lord” or “Thy wisdom, Lord.”

Sometimes when I’m worried, I just lift my heart to heaven and say, “Lord…,” followed by the name of one for whom I’m concerned.

Looking back over the years, I’ve never faced a crisis in which, in response to earnest prayer, whether prolonged or instant, God didn’t make a way.  James 5:16 tells us:  “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (NLT).  That’s the great secret of those who put their hands in the hand of the One who can part the seas.

Some of you have been praying for something for a long time.  Some of you have been hyperventilating with worry and experiencing many sleepless nights.  Some of you are about to give up because you just cannot take it any longer and you just do not know what to do.  Have you literally been brought to your knees yet?  If not, why not?  Why are you so stubborn.  Why is it that you spend more time feeling sorry for yourself than you do thanking God for the many blessings that He has already bestowed on you?  Matthew Henry said that God has brought you to this point to drive you to your knees, so why not just drop now and cry a little bit.  You don’t even have to say anything because God knows the groaning of your heart.

There is an awful lot going on in this world and quite honestly, it is hard to see an end at this time.  Could it be that God is looking for His church to get on its knees and cry out to Him?  I read an interesting verse in Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”  Based on that verse, who would you say is ruling?  NWBC family; let’s pray!  Let’s ask God to do a work in each of us first and if it be His will to use us to impact our community, we will praise Him for that.  BUT, let’s take care of us first!