Prayer series # 5

One of the most disturbing films I’ve ever watched was “Saving Private Ryan.” It opens with 25 minutes of some of the most intense war footage ever shown in film! It was a recreation of WW 2's D-Day offensive, the storming of Omaha Beach, in the invasion of France. Thousands of Allied soldiers, wave after wave, were brought to land on a beach that faced directly into a well dug-in German force. I simply could not begin to imagine what men thought as they waded into the water and watched bullets cut down friends around them. Where does a person find the courage to do a thing like that?

Each American owes a tremendous debt to those soldiers who volunteer to protect and defend our country in all her various wars. It is an act of great self-sacrifice to put one’s self in harm’s way and - on this July 4^th weekend – we salute those who serve and those who have served!

Today, in the continuing series of messages about prayer, I want us to consider...

Praying For CourageTEXT - Exodus 3: 1-12

God has been so good to me. My life has been filled with good people: with abundant love, with light, and with wholeness. And yet, I know that there is a world of need around me.

∙ I've seen desperate poverty, and the suffering it produces, up close and personal in developing nations.

∙ I've helped men and women to the light of Christ out of deep pits of darkness.

∙ I've comforted those who are dealing with terrors of sickness, the devastation of family disintegration, and the shame of personal failures and sins of all kinds.

But still I find myself, from time to time, 'rediscovering' the need of this world from time to time. Earlier this week, I received the current issue of Christianity Today, (July, 06). It contained a disturbing report on the world's sex trade industry. The World Cup, the championship soccer event being held in Germany this year, is the site of commercial sex on a grand scale. 40,000 legal prostitutes are doing business at the games. Sex huts, complete with condoms and snacks, are provided around the venue! Talk about 'casual' sex! But, it wasn’t even the casual sex that was most disturbing to me.

What really grabbed my attention was the human misery caused by this sin! The article told of young women from poor nations who are trapped by men who deceive them into leaving their homes for a supposed job, and then force them into sex slavery! Two-thirds of these women suffer from Post Traumatic Stress at levels like those found in veterans of combat or state sponsored torture.

I ask myself - What kind of depravity makes a person destroy another's life for a few bucks? Then I realize, anew, that It is not a particularly hideous kind of evil that does this. It is just another expression of the ordinary evil that is all around us; the sinfulness that is the natural state of every human- the result of the Fall of Adam. We see it in cruel gossip, in economic exploitation, in child abuse, in corruption in government, and a million other ways. What is sad is that we live among so much evil and are so used to seeing the suffering, we stop noticing - or worse, we begin to think that this is acceptable!

Believer, God sends you and me into the world to confront evil - be it the sex trade, or the more banal evil of an abusive husband in a family we know, or the economic exploitation of person. He calls on us to stand against systems that facilitate abuse of power, to shine the light on cruelty in whatever form it is found among us, to bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the broken, and peace to the troubled soul!

The question that I find myself asking is "How can I make any difference?"

Can I possibly have any effect on the tide of sin that washes over humanity?' In my own strength, with my own resources, the answer is obviously, "no."

ill.- The world took notice this week as two of America’s richest men announced their intention to use the major part of their wealth to improve the lives of the poorest people in the world - to provide health care, nutrition, clean water, and immunizations to African children. I applaud their efforts! But, even Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, using their $billions in generous and admirable philanthropy, won't stop suffering and sin. They might save some, but people will still suffer long after the Gate's foundation money is exhausted.

So, am I defeatist? Am I suggesting that we sound retreat and run from the battle with sin and Satan? NO!

We run to the battle, equipped with God-given weapons that are sufficient to push back evil and the Evil One. God calls on us to go and love; and with the power of love we break the cycle of sin and suffering. Sound silly? Take a look at what Paul writes -

"The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair.
But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will.

The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies,
tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity." (2 Corinthians 10:3-6, The Message)

Even with such a promise of resources and empowering, know this.

Engaging with evil is costly.

When Jesus left the Throne Room to become a Man, it was a costly choice that took Him all the way to the Cross. Love, alone, compelled Him to suffer and die for the sins of the world. Likewise, the fight for right, our commitment to serve the Kingdom of Heaven, will be costly. The Lord urged us to consider that cost before we enter the battle. He calls us to

"Shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?" (Luke 9:23-25, NLT)

When we are staring evil in the face, preparing ourselves for battle, getting ready for an offensive against the Devil, it is quite likely that we will feel some fear. In fact, only a fool would think himself equal to the task by his own strength!

Before the battle, we must pray for strength!

Let’s take a look at great story. A little background will help to set the scene.

The descendants of Israel, God’s chosen people, lived in Egypt for hundreds of years, becoming slaves in that empire. The Pharaoh was so threatened by their numbers that at one point he ordered all the male children killed. But one brave Israelite mother tried to save her baby by putting him in a little boat and floating it in the place where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed. The baby was pulled from the water and raised in the palace as the adopted prince of Egypt.

When he was 40 years of age and became more aware of the terrible suffering of his people at the hands of their oppressors, he took matters in his own hands one day and murdered an Egyptian slave master. Now a fugitive, he fled to the desert, where he became a shepherd of a flock of sheep! For 40 years, he learned to be somebody. For the next 40 years, he learned to be nobody - then God stepped up with a new calling!

READ TEXT -

The Lord spoke to him and called on him to return to Egypt to deliver the people of Israel from slavery to the Promised Land. “I have seen the misery, ... so now go, .. I am sending you!”

Moses initial response was “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”" (Exodus 3:11, The Message) It may sound like an excuse, but I believe it reveals the humility of Moses, a new sense of his own limitations which his 40 years in the desert tending sheep had produced. The answer from Heaven that came to Moses is simple - “I will be with you!”

Believer, as I read that passage this week, I began to pray that God would speak to each one of us again - renewing our call. All around us, sin is taking a heavy toll on those who are oppressed by the Devil! Broken lives and spiritual blindness are abundant. But are we seeing the need?

I worry that many of us, blessed as we are by God, work to avert our gaze from the suffering of sin. We close our hearts and minds to the pain of those who are slaves to their passions, who live for empty pleasure, who chase happiness in the mirage of worldly wealth and/or achievements. We can lose ourselves in our own little life, preoccupied with our family, our houses, ourselves - coming to church for a ‘bless me’ experience.

But, the reality is that just outside the circle of light, just beyond the grasp of grace - there are billions of people living desperately, hopelessly, in the grasp of sin - slaves to Satan.

If that sounds dramatic and overblown to you, then you need to open your eyes and ears. You need to spend some time watching the news while praying for spiritual eyes. You need to go and walk the streets of our towns and look into the eyes of those who are living in the darkness - eyes empty of hope, lives without purpose!

“So, now, go! I am sending you” God’s words echo down to you and me as we, too, are commissioned to lead people out of slavery to the Promise of knowing God. If we hear it, we may, like Moses, be inclined to see only our inabilities.

Just this week, I found myself on my face in prayer and I was saying,

“Lord, why did you call me? I feel so inadequate for this work!"

The thought that I am charged to teach you eternal truths awes me! That He has entrusted me with the soul care of His Bride, the church, weighs heavily on me. I know I am not smart enough, 'Christian' enough, or perfect.

But, He sees me through a different set of eyes, as a man who He equips for the calling He gives.

Do you feel incapable of serving God, of doing effective ministry?

Do your short-comings, sins, and failures taunt you from the wings of the stage of your mind whispering to you - "there's no way you're going to pull this off successfully?"

Do you ever pray Moses’ prayer - “Who am I that I should go?”

Ever person who responds obediently and purposefully to do God's will - be they a preacher or a plumber- will feel some level of fear. IF they do not, they are not walking in faith. Paul, himself, knew this sense of inadequacy. Of the calling to represent the Kingdom of God, he asks, "Who is equal to such a task?" and a little further on the text, "It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God." (2 Corinthians 3:5, NLT) The taunters lie, if only because they ignore the one thing that is the key to doing spiritual work effectively -- it isn't our own strength, cleverness, or skills that ultimately provide success.
God answer to Moses is still the answer to us - “I will be with you!”

The Bible says, "For in Christ you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed." (1 Corinthians 1:5-7, NIV) Yes, we must recognize that the 'you' that is the subject of this verse is a collective describing the Church. But, you and I am 'in the Church' and we can claim the promise of His enabling spiritual gifts personally! Do you?

When I am on the edge of being overwhelmed by my fears and my sense of inadequacy, there is but one thing that quiets my mind... knowing that "It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6, NLT)

On our own, with our meager resources, we can do little against evil. With God, we can move mountains.

So, are you ready to respond to God’s call to make a difference,

to enter the battle for the freedom of souls from slavery?

See the need.

I hope it makes you feel small and inadequate, so much that you will fall to your knees and say, "Who am I, Lord?" And rise, empowered by the Spirit, filled with Heaven's boldness, prepared to 'use powerful God-tools to smash warped philosophies!'

The promise God to Moses’ prayer for courage, “I will be with you.”

Jesus repeated that promise to us - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV) Amen

Washington Assembly of God