The Richest Gift You Can Give

 

The young woman visited our church’s Food Pantry and as she gathered some items mentioned that she was selective about her choices since she was living in her car! My heart was touched and as the opportunity presented I asked if she had resources to get housing before the winter months. She replied that she was working on it and that an agency was assisting. Then I asked if I could pray for her. “Sure,” she answered, “that would be nice,” and started to walk away.

“Could I pray for you right now?” I asked. When given permission, I prayed for God to send kind and good people her way, to give her wisdom and courage to face the future, and that she would know, deep inside of her heart, that Jesus loved her. I looked up and saw tearing streaming down her face as she left.

I cannot remember how many times that others have prayed for me. I probably do not even know about most of the prayers offered for me, but they are treasured! The prayers of friend and family have sustained me in trial, in sickness, when seeking guidance. One of things I lost when my wife stepped into eternity were her prayers for she was my constant advocate before the Lord.  I can only hope that my prayers are as comforting to them as the prayers offered on my behalf are to me. When I have passed on most of my sermonizing will be forgotten, my writing will fade into oblivion. The prayers I have prayed for others will last, written in eternity.

Please know this, my Christian friend, you can give others a rich gift with your prayers. You don’t have to be a Pastor to pray for others. You don’t have to have a theology degree or be eloquent! The Word urges us to keep close relationships that include transparency and advocacy.  These lead us to ‘healing,’ which is not just about physical well-being, but wholeness of our person – body, soul, and spirit. James says  "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man (person) is powerful and effective." (James 5:16, NIV)

When we pray for one another, let’s not just do it from a distance, let’s learn to do that in person, or in a text, or in a phone call. Praying, even if the words get fumbled, even when there are quiet pauses, is a soothing salve for the soul. Few things will stir me as deeply as hearing someone talk about me, my needs, my life to our Father.  God will put it all in the right perspective and use our prayers to accomplish His will and purposes.

When we pray for each other, we must go beyond – “Lord, bless Pete, Sally, and Sam.” Let’s get specific, praying for financial provision, for specific guidance, for restoration of love in marriages, for victory over sin, for spiritual growth, … the stuff of real life! We don’t have to long or wordy, but we need to be direct! Please remember this - prayers for others are not an opportunity to ‘set them straight’ while we preach them a mini-sermon. If someone needs to get right or change course, talk to God alone about that in their life and ask for an opportunity to be a loving friend who helps, but never misuse prayer as a message system. I have experienced those ‘prayers’ and honestly, I resent them.

Prayer is powerful!  Do you pray for others?   If that seems daunting to you keep in mind that you are just taking the need of our friend to God, asking Him directly on their behalf. Open your heart, your mouth, engage your mind and speak to the Father.  Sometimes when I pray for people I have no idea what to pray about. The situation may be complicated, the details of their dilemma unknown to me, yet I can pray for them because God knows their need, so I ask Him to love them, keep them, steady them, entrusting that person to Him. He knows what is best.

“But, Jerry, what does that gain? Doesn’t He already know the need?”  He does! I cannot explain all the reasons that an All-knowing, All-powerful Purposeful God wants us to pray, but clearly He does. "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)  If we prayed for people even half as much as we talk about them to others we would see amazing things happen!

So let us pray! Really. Let’s take seriously God’s desire that we exercise a priestly ministry for others. Christians are called to be priests. That does not mean working in a church, wearing vestments, or being ordained. A priest is one who administers God’s grace to others, sharing His love. We ALL can do that and one way is prayer.

Let me pray for you now borrowing Paul’s amazing prayer for the Ephesians, a prayer that is one of my favorite passages in the Word.

"Out of his glorious riches (may) He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19, NIV)  To the praise and honor of our wonderful Lord. Amen!

__________________

Somebody's Prayin'

(Ricky Skaggs does this song beautifully!)

Somebody's prayin'
I can feel it
Somebody's prayin' for me
Mighty hands are guiding me
To protect me
From what I can't see
Lord I believe
Lord I believe
Somebody's prayin' for me

Angels are watchin'
I can feel it
Angels are watchin' over me
There's many miles ahead
'Till I get home
Still I'm safely kept
Before Your throne
'Cause Lord I believe
Lord I believe Your angels
Are watchin' over me

Well I've walked
The barren wilderness
Where my pillow was a stone
And I've been through
The darkest caverns
Where no light had ever shone
Still I went on
'Cause there was someone
Who was down on their knees
And Lord I thank You
For those people
Prayin' all this time for me

John G. Elliott © 1985 Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) CCLI License # 810055

 

I love a good story!

 

I’m officially “old’ I suppose and one of the prime evidences of that fact is that I love to tell stories!  Those of us with a lot more history than future tend to do that. One of my late uncles visited our home a couple of times each year when he was traveling. Uncle Keith was a great story-teller and I enjoyed sitting with him, listening.  One of the joys of the upcoming holidays for many people is the opportunity to gather with friends and family. There will be meals but the food will soon be forgotten while the stories told around the table will linger in memory. There will be tales told of accidents, spills, scrapes with the law, awards, and little dramas that are ‘life.’  Most of them will have been told before and will be told again. It’s what we humans do. Our stories will make us laugh and cry, but they are more than entertaining.

Stories define and explain us.  The more of your story I know, the better I understand who you are. Authentic stories reveal the triumphs and failures, the hits and misses of life.  Being able to talk about who we were, who we are, and who we hope to become is part of growing emotionally and spiritually.  When a person is loved enough to know they can tell their whole story, they can find redemption, forgiveness, hope, and change that flows from the inside out. That is why 12 step recovery groups like Alcoholics Anonymous© create safe places for people to tell their real stories, not the “fake news” that perpetuates a lie about life.  The truth is liberating, but leaves us vulnerable, so we need a loving place to tell it.  

One of the functions of the church is community, a place to gather ‘round the Table, in the love of the Father, and live our story.  Is your church a loving place where people can tell their story, live authentically?   

The love of Jesus - told in the always new story of His birth, His death, His Resurrection – allows us to tell ourselves the truth and to find in Him that love that heals us and saves us.  Our natural impulse is to change our story, to conceal the ugly parts, to magnify the moments of success. Pride makes hypocrites of us. Jesus warns us about  “the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!" (Luke 12:1-3, NLT)

So, what’s your story?
Have you written a fiction about yourself that has enslaved you?
Have you believed a lie that somebody told you, a falsehood that controls you to this day?

KNOW THIS - The God Who knows you best, loves you most!   

 He knows our story, loves us, and invites us to leave the sins in the past and live richly, resourced by His Spirit.  John reminds that "If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world." (1 John 1:8-2:2, NLT)

So next week, I’m looking forward to telling and hearing some stories.  My prayer is that there is a thread of faith, an echo of the love of Christ.

Here is a word from the Word, Paul encouraging us to tell the Story -  “Thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God.” (2 Corinthians 2:13, NLT)

________________

I Love To Tell The Story
(Sung by EmmyLou Harris and Robert Duval)

I love to tell the story of unseen things above
Of Jesus and His glory of Jesus and His love
I love to tell the story because I know 'tis true
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do

I love to tell the story
'Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old old story
of Jesus and His love

I love to tell the story more wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams
I love to tell the story it did so much for me
And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee

I love to tell the story 'tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time
I tell it more wonderfully sweet
I love to tell the story for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God's own holy Word

I love to tell the story for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest
And when in scenes of glory
I sing the new new song
'Twill be the old old story
That I have loved so long

Arabella Katherine Hankey | Don Chapman | William Gustavus Fischer

© Words: Public Domain

Rich and Generous

 

Are you, by nature, generous? Do you tend toward being engaged and ready to share life with others?  Think of a time when you have worked with a person who has a generous spirit, someone who is positive towards others, who speaks encouragement, who actively hopes for the best and gives of his resources and himself.  Yes, that one makes the world a richer place. 

In this Thanksgiving month I want us to remember the generosity of our God. It is a key to living a richer, fuller life of generosity.  When we know that we are loved by a generous Father, that security will allow us to become ‘rich’ towards others.  Know this, too;  generosity has rich rewards for us.    

In 1892, the concert pianist, Paderewski, played a concert at Stanford University at the invitation of one Herbert Hoover, a poor student, who along with a friend, sponsored the concert to earn funds for his education. When the concert ended, the students discovered that they were far short of the agreed fee. They promised Paderewski the balance, explaining that their predicament. The generous man told them to take their expenses from the proceeds and give him whatever was left over!

Paderewski went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland, albeit not a very good politician by most accounts. During the first World War his country was devastated and people were starving. He reached out the United States to the Office of Food and Relief. The head of that office was one Herbert Hoover, who promptly set about to send tons of grain to help feed the Polish people. Paderewski offered profuse thanks to Hoover who reminded the Polish leader of his generosity in 1892, which the pianist Prime Minister had completely forgotten!  

Such is the nature of generosity!   The wisdom of God teaches us that “we reap what we sow” and in proportion to how much we sow.

Jesus told a story about a man who failed the generosity test at the point where it is most important. “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21, NIV)   It is important not to misunderstand the message! Jesus did not condemn his success or his wealth. He pointed out the selfishness that followed success! 

If we are carefully keeping record of what we think God owes us, if we are clinging to our time, our money; yes, to our Self – we are not ‘rich toward God.’ Jesus said that the man who took such good care of himself was a ‘fool!’ Strong word, isn’t it?  He failed to understand that eternity waited and those things he had carefully laid aside for his own comfort would be spent by another. Are you ‘rich toward God’? Do you serve to meet minimal expectations or in a way that reflects passion for Jesus and His Kingdom?

We must remember that we are blessed. Even if our bank account balance is in single digits, our car a dozen years old, our clothes hand-me-down, we enjoy riches. The Word reminds us that "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:5, NIV)  The English text ‘poured out’ misses the power of the first language of the New Testament. The text there carries the meaning of overflowing, of being spilled out!  Paul says that we enjoy “the riches of God’s grace  that he lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7)   Do you live in awareness of that lavish love, that spilled out grace? 

As we begin this new week, let’s take the Word to heart. Jesus invites us to  "Walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (Matthew 6:28-33, The Message)

People who know the generous heart of the Father will become richly generous, blessed to be a blessing.

___________

The Generous Mr Lovewell

He wakes up every day the same
Believing he's gonna make a change
Never wonders if but when
I guarantee he can find a way
To reach out and make somebody's day
'Cause someone took the time with him 

He believes it's the little things
That make a great big change

 Hey Mr Lovewell
Doing today what you do every day
No matter how small
Believing that it's all the same
Come on Mr Lovewell
Oh we could use a few more just like you
Who care enough to give
This life away
'Cause you've been changed
The generous Mr Lovewell loves today

It may be a simple how do you do
The kind of thing that can pull them through
A minute or two can mean so much
Or maybe it's the one across the street
He's asking if there's anything they need
'Cause they will know us by our love 

It may not mean that much to him
But it's the world to them

We all
Need more Mr Lovewells 

Barry Graul | Bart Millard | Jim Bryson | Mike Scheuchzer | Nathan Cochran | Robby Shaffer

© 2010 Simpleville Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Wet As A Fish Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

CCLI License # 810055