Introduction
Back in March, we agreed at All Saints’ to commit
ourselves to moving in a clear direction as a church. This is it; “praying
always and serving together, sharing Jesus’ love in our communities.” That’s
our vision.
The last thing we want to do is stick that vision
statement on our stationery and on website, and then carry on as before. Here
is what we’re not going to do: “Pray occasionally or not at all, serve alone or
expect to be waited on, keeping Jesus’ love to ourselves, staying detached and
aloof in our own cosy community.”
I’ll say this as lovingly as I can; if prayerlessness,
disservice, self-interest and isolation are what you want from church, All
Saints’ Preston on Tees is not for you. There are dozens of churches in the
Stockton area and you might want to have a look to see if you can find what you
want there but we are going to be praying always and serving together, sharing
Jesus’ love in our communities.
And what we are going to do over the next few months
is try to explore what all that is going to mean for us as a church.
The next four Sundays are going to get to grips with
what it means to pray always and we’re going to see that biblical prayer
involves faith, perseverance, desperation and unity.
Prayer is hard work
In reality, most of us find prayer quite hard work. If
you do, that’s all right, it’s not just
you. It really is difficult. A former
bishop of mine Geoffrey Rowell, once said, “In the contest between prayer and
work, work always wins because it’s easier.” That is so true. Speaking
personally, prayer, especially on my own, is much harder than work.
A friend of mine called Dan
Jéquier was talking to me once about the Mission that Mother
Teresa founded in Calcutta. There was a time in the early days of that amazing
work when the sisters and volunteers were becoming overrun by the demands
placed on them.
There were more desperate people on their doorstep than
they could cope with. They had to keep turning people away. Open wounds were
being left untended and exposed to infection until the next day. Desperate
children were going away disappointed to sleep in the streets.
So one day one of the novices approached Mother Teresa
and said, “What are we going to do? We are sending people away. We do not have the
resources we need. The sisters are discouraged and exhausted.” Do you know what
Mother Teresa said? She thought for a moment and said, “Then we shall get up in
the morning one hour earlier. And we shall spend that extra hour together on
our knees before God.”
It sounds completely mad. But it isn’t. It’s faith! “Praying
always” calls for faith. Thank God they had Mother Teresa running that place and
not me. I think I would have said, “Do you know what? We’ll have to get up an
hour earlier to fit everyone in.” Bishop Geoffrey was right; in the contest
between prayer and work, work always wins, because it’s so much easier.
I have often sat where you’re sitting and listened to
stories like that one and felt completely defeated before I start. You’ve all
heard preachers quoting John Wesley saying unless he spent four hours every
morning in prayer he couldn’t get anything done. I’m sure it’s meant to be
inspirational but it the effect that sort of quote has on me is just to make me
think that my prayer life is pants.
But in the Bible, the greatest warriors in prayer, the
most anointed intercessors, the most inspirational men and women of faith were
ordinary people like we are. That’s what it says in James 5 about Elijah. Resist
the temptation to put him on a pedestal; it says in v17 that he was a human
being, even as we are.
He wasn’t Superman. He wasn’t an otherworldly saint. He
was a regular bloke who just prayed that it would be dry for three and a half
years - and it was. Then he prayed for rain - and it poured down to end the
drought.
He was an absolute legend in prayer. He was a giant in
faith. He marched into the king’s palace and gave him what for. He raised a boy
from the dead. He called down fire from heaven. But the Bible says, he was just
like us. He doubted. He got distracted and drifted off when he was praying. He
said to people “I’ll pray for you” then forgot to do it. Yes, he was just like us.
How to…
How do you pray? What works for you? I had to fill in
a form once for someone in the Diocese in preparation for my appraisal. One of
the questions was, “What resources are you using in your personal devotions?” I
don’t know what they were looking for as an acceptable reply; maybe the Bible,
a cross, candles, prayer books, worship CDs... I think I probably put down some
of those things but I also put down ‘running shoes’. I don’t know what they
made of that. But I find it easiest of all to pray when I’m out running early
in the morning in Preston Park. That is just the way the Lord made me.
I listen to worship songs on my mp3 player and I lift
up praise to God. I usually pray for my family one by one, for people I know
who are having a tough time, for the church, for stuff in the world, for God’s
direction in my life… Those moments for me are the times when I pray best. And,
I’ve mentioned this before to you, those times are when I most clearly hear
from God.
It’s probably different for you. Here are some differences.
-Location: Some people like to take time out in churches,
monasteries or chapels. Others pray by their bed side. Still others pray best
in the open air.
- Resources: Some people like prayer guides or books
of prayers. Others keep a prayer diary. Others just pray with no agenda, as the
Holy Spirit leads.
- Time: Some people prefer to spend the first moments
of each day in prayer, before getting up. For others, the best moment is at the
end of the day on the sofa with a cup of cocoa. Still others, take time out in
their lunch hour.
- Personnel: Some like to pray alone. Others much
prefer to pray in a triplet or in a larger group.
- Habits. Some people get into habits. One of the
suggestions in the TryPraying booklet is every time you use a key to pray
“Lord, unlock my life to your influence.” I know a guy who lives in a 5th
floor flat. He has worked out that the time it takes to go up and down five
floors is exactly the time he needs to pray the Lord’s Prayer. So each time he
goes out or comes home that’s what he does.
The point is that everyone’s experience of prayer is
different. It doesn’t matter how or when you pray, as long as you find out what
works for you and do it.
In the letter of James the focus is more on praying together.
Prayer - what you do when you’re in trouble (v13)
The first thing it says in v13 is that prayer is what
you should do when you’re in danger, or anxious, or disturbed, or in a mess. It
is God’s gift to you in times of bother and hassle. “Is anyone among you in
trouble?” it says. “Let them pray.”
J. John sometimes talks about where Jesus is in the
car journey of your life.
Is he in the back seat? – Basically a passenger in your
life without any real influence.
Is he in the boot? – Only taken out for religious
happy hour on Sunday mornings but the rest of the time out of sight, out of
mind.
Is he in the front passenger seat? – A companion in your
life but still a passenger and not the one in control.
You’ve guessed where this is going, haven’t you?
That’s right, is he in the driving seat? – Leading the way, steering in his
chosen direction. But if he is, are you the backseat driver, saying, “Stop! No,
turn left, not right! Mind that bus! Slow down! Ah, change gear! Make a
U-turn!”
The Bible says “Don’t be anxious about anything. In
everything present your requests to God.” But it’s amazing how much easier it
is to worry and fret and agonize and lose sleep and take tranquilisers than
simply pray and leave things with the Lord.
But God promises this: (this is the Message
paraphrase). Present your requests to God “and before you know it, a sense of
God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you
down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ dissolves worry at the centre of
your life.”
Can I encourage you, if you are carrying heavy burdens
today, and you haven’t yet come to God and laid your anxieties down at his
feet? It usually helps to pray with someone else – that’s why we do prayer
ministry here.
You can listen to a talk on prayer and go away
informed. Or you can listen to a talk on prayer and then let someone pray over
you and go away transformed. Don’t suffer alone. The Lord is near.
Prayer - what you ask for when you’re sick (v14)
The next thing it says here about prayer (v14-15) is
that it’s what you should ask for when you’re unwell. “Is any one of you sick? Let
them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil
in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick
person well; the Lord will raise them up.”
Well, that’s nice and easy then isn’t it? Of course,
we all know -or most of us can point to- occurrences of healing from God when
we have prayed for it, sometimes dramatically and remarkably.
Probably the most extraordinary example I have come
across in my life is when a friend of mine called Guy
Sancerres asked me to pray with him for a friend. He had had seen
him earlier that day and found he had been diagnosed with cancer spreading from
the liver and he had been given just a few months to live. Two or three of us
prayed for that man there and then. Six months later, he went back and was
given a clean bill of health by his incredulous doctors. He was still alive 8
years later. I could talk about similar signs and wonders that I have
witnessed. Our God is a great and mighty, awesome God and he heals today.
Why does James mention anointing with oil? It seems to
be a thing that God honours in Spirit-led ministry. We know that God’s power is
uniquely present when we break bread and drink wine together in repentance and
faith. In the same way, our faith in God’s power to deliver often increases
when we anoint with oil and ask God to heal in Jesus’ name.
We have anointing oil here and we sometimes use it
when praying for the sick. A few weeks ago at The Source I had a word from God
about anointing people to be freshly empowered by the Holy Spirit. So people
came forward. And the Spirit of God came in power. Three people fell down in
the power of the Spirit, one after another. Others were touched in different
ways.
But - here’s the important thing - it’s not because of
the oil. It’s not because of the elders of the church. It’s not because of their
faith or even their prayer that the sick are healed; v15 says it’s the Lord who raises them up.
This week TearFund were
asking people about their favourite worship songs and hymns and why they
particularly liked them. They made a Top Ten and at number 2 was the song
10,000 Reasons – Bless the Lord O My Soul by Matt Redman.
Here’s one testimony from
someone who chose that song. “Three years ago, my daughter Alison who had been
disabled with 3 debilitating illnesses for over 20 years … got married. To say
"Thank you" for the wedding... they took us on holiday to the Isle of
Wight. Every day one of us would break into this song and then we would all join
in wherever we were! We got some strange looks! But towards the end of the
holiday our great God completely healed our daughter.”
Some are healed when we pray for them with our best
prayer in the name of Jesus but, of course, not all are. We are broken-hearted
as a church because we prayed for baby Sophia; Kevin’s granddaughter. And she
died. And we need to take great care to reassure people who are not healed, and
their loved ones, that it’s not their fault and that God loves them just as
much.
John Wimber, who had a powerful and fruitful healing ministry,
was once asked about this. This is how he replied: he said, “Before, we never
used to pray for anybody and nobody was
ever healed. Now, we try to take more seriously Christ’s command to heal in his
name. So we pray for everybody. And some
get healed. Not everybody, but many do. So which is better; to pray for nobody
and see no healing at all or to pray for everybody and see some healing?” That’s
why we keep going.
Prayer - what you do when you’re in a bad place (v15b, 16)
The next thing it says here about prayer, in v15b, 16,
is that it’s what you should do when you’re in a bad place. “If they have
sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
There is sometimes a link between sickness and personal
sin. Not always by any means. “If
they have sinned” says James. Sometimes you get a tummy bug because you ate an
out-of-date lasagne. Full-stop. But sometimes there is a relationship between sickness and sin.
I have sometimes noticed that people who are unwilling
to forgive become embittered and sick. Unforgiveness poisons the soul. That’s
why Jesus said, “When you stand praying,
if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them.”
I was praying with a woman once, I can’t remember what
she asked for prayer for. As I was praying, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to
ask her if she had a sister and if she had a difficult relationship with her. So
I plucked up the courage to ask her. I should add that sometimes I think God is
saying something and I share it only to find that it’s just my imagination.
That’s why I never say “God told me” or “God is saying…” We prophesy in part
and what we think might be prophetic words have to be weighed and tested.
Anyway, in this case, as soon as I mentioned this
woman’s sister, she immediately stiffened up and folded her arms. After a while,
I asked her if she would be prepared to forgive. I told her that real freedom
can only come when we leave behind our hurts and resentments that are toxic to
the soul. She said to me, “No, I won’t forgive. I want you to pray anyway.” I had
to tell her, “I’m afraid there’s no point.” Oh, how hard the way of the cross
is sometimes! You’ve got to forgive those who sin against you! You’ve got to let
go. As far as I know she never moved on.
Conclusion
Our vision is to pray always, to be ordinary people like
Elijah who pray with the faith we have.
The disciples said to Jesus “Lord, teach us how to
pray.” On another occasion, they said to him “Lord, increase our faith.” I hope
you are determined to grow in prayer and grow in faith as we commit together to
this vision; to be praying always, serving together and sharing Jesus’ love in
our communities.
Let’s stand to pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 31st May 2015
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