Let me tell you about the four stages of developing a new sermon series. Stage #1: “Self, we’re wrapping up the last series, you should probably think about what to preach next.” Stage #2: “I know, its summer, let’s do a short series on prayer. Everyone is curious about prayer.” Stage #3: “Hey Eric, let’s run with this prayer thing. Let the worship folks know all about it. We’ll call the series ‘Making Room for God.’” Stage #4: “Oh no, what have I gotten myself into? Help me Lord!”
Truth be told—I’ll often pick a series just because it’s an area of growth. It’s not unlike weight training, where you single out a group of muscles to develop. Or, It’s not unlike the disciples, who after spending much time with Jesus, observing his life/priorities, said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1). Maybe like them, you are at a place hoping to make greater room for God in your life.
But I’ll also pick a series based on the ebb and flow of pastoral care.
One of my friends, whose unchurched, doesn’t think there is any validity to prayer at all. His attitude is basically, “Prove that it works. Prove there is a God.”
Another friend lamented all the ways God has disappointed him lately. He’s estranged from his wife and kids. He’s struggling to keep his business afloat, paying legal bills, covering child support, keeping up with inflation, and everything else. He’s had several run-ins with law enforcement and feels the system is against him. He’s had series of mental health breakdowns. His mother has fourth-stage cancer and isn’t expected to live long. He’s been involved in memorial work, where innocent kids have died of cancer. He mentioned the tragic I-55 dust storm and how so many innocent people lost their lives. He feels as if God is just piling it on.
Thursday was part of a global zoom call with pastors reporting from all over the world (literally). One of the pastors was from Ukraine. They essentially had to shut down their seminary/college and open a dozen “I Care Centers” where they help up to 250 refugees daily any way they can. He said everyone is talking about God. And their trying to reconcile their knowledge of God with the brutality of their circumstances. He said there is nothing academic about people sobbing, and breaking down, and recounting the horrors of seeing loved ones—even their own children--raped/murdered. How long oh Lord? What does the future hold?
The Bible doesn’t offer glib answers to these types of struggles. Clearly in Scripture yes, there are those who declare there is no God. There are accounts of people like Joseph (or Job, Esther, Ruth), whose negative circumstances just seem to keep piling up. There are accounts like the book of Lamentations when suffering is so immense, and human cruelty so extreme, it defies description and metaphor.
The disciples were pretty fortunate to have Jesus and say, “Lord teach us to pray.” But who is qualified to teach us to pray today? Are you qualified? Am I qualified? Whenever I do a new series of messages I deep dive into the Bible, but also Christian works. There is a virtual consensus that when it comes to prayer we’re all fellow strugglers, co-learners, co-venturers. Let’s just enter the tension together. Let’s use this series to plead our cause to God Himself. “Heavenly Father… Christ Jesus our Lord… Spirit of the Living God… teach us to pray!”
This morning I want to kick things off with a simple invitation: See prayer as a way of “Making Room for God in Your Life.” I think of Colossians 1:16 which says, “For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.”
For me, Making Room for God (Prayer) starts with the simple realization that here I am living my own life, in my own way, on my own terms… and I live in a culture where everywhere around, every moment of everyday is pretty much doing the same… and none of us recognize the simple realize that We were created by God, and through God, and for God. If Colossians 1:16 is true, living for anyone or anything other than God is a dead end.
Perhaps you’ve been driving in your car, in some unfamiliar place, and see a sign, “Dead End.” The sooner you recognize your situation and turn around the better. But if you keep going… if you keep accelerating… if you keep hoping against hope… why then you are only squandering your life/well-being at that point. And I think this explains our interest in prayer. The Bible says repeatedly, Proverbs 14:12 for instance, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” Making Room for God is acknowledge that our life belongs to God. We were created by him, through him, and for him. We’re not doing so well squeezing God out of our lives. Our world’s not doing so well. Our families, schools, gov’t.
I thought I’d kick this series, off by sharing some “shifts” I’ve been making to make greater room for God in my life. I hope this might be helpful to you.
First, I’m learning to: “Shift from Prayer being a Duty to a Delight.” An occupational hazard of being a preacher is everyone sees it as your duty to pray. In the Bible Samuel saw it a sin not to pray for people. Have you ever seen 1 Samuel 12:23 before? “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.” No pressure there! Pray for me pastor, or you’re going to burn for eternity.
Over the past few weeks, I visited some of our sister churches. Each church had a special chair, centrally located on the stage, in full view of the congregation, designated for the pastor. I remembered how hard it was to worship, much less pray, feeling you’re the center of attention. Prayer can become a “duty.” Instead of something spontaneous, and heart-felt, it can become obligatory, performative, perfunctory. We’re doing the pastoral prayer, communion prayer, offering prayer, pre-sermon prayer, after-sermon prayer, the closing benediction….
Closely related to “Duty” is “Discipline.” Often we’ll engage in the a spiritual activity like prayer because we’re so fleshly. Praying is like lifting weights. We’re trying to whip our flabby spiritual lives into shape. Personally, nothing kills my prayer life quicker than when I try to pray out of a sense of duty or mere discipline.
For me, I’m learning to see prayer as an opportunity to Delight in the Lord. If I was created by this God, and through this God, and for this God—then I don’t just need… I “want…yearn…delight” to know this God! My priority in prayer is to know God as my Father, it’s to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, it’s to embrace God’s Holy Spirit as my mentor, teacher, counselor, sanctifier, sustainer, power. Life confounds our understanding of God. I want to flip the script. I want to undo the mystery. God show yourself to me as Father, Son, and Spirit. Cause me to delight in you.
I think of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:10 where he says in part, “My goal is to know him…” And Not that I’ve reached that goal he says… but I make every effort to take hold of it… forgetting what is behind… straining toward what is ahead. Knowing Jesus is a life-long pursuit! A Life-long delight! Every time I encounter the living God in prayer, is moment to delight in him/know him more.
Ephesians 3:14-21, “For this reason I kneel [PRAY] before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Second, I’m learning to: “Shift from Prayer being Evacuation to Transformation. So often in our prayers we’re consumed, pleading with God, to please change our circumstances! Lord, I need out of this marriage, this relationship. Lord, my kids are too much to bare… this job, my boss, my neighborhood. Lord evacuate me from this state, or even these United States. Lord take this cup from me. Lord remove this thorn, this hardship, trouble, obstacle, difficulty, challenge, mountain.
Tim Keller, in his book on Prayer, invites us to consider how little God’s people request, or even that God changes, people’s circumstances in prayer. We’re seeking a change of circumstances while God’s seeking a change of character. Now I am quite sure there are times in prayer where God changed some circumstance for me, opened some door, rescued me from trouble. But there are infinitely more times when God instead used a circumstance to change me character. Looking back over my life, I realized, that if God had evacuated me out of all the trouble I’d encountered, very little fruit of the Spirit would have ever developed. But when did I (or you) most grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control?
In prayer, I’m learning to delight in God, knowing Father/Son/Spirit more fully. In prayer, I’m being transformed to be more like Christ. So then does prayer work? It depends what you mean by work! In prayer God works in me to will/act according to his good purpose. In Philippians 3:18-21 Paul’s says, “For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things. 20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.” Whether pray “works” comes down to whether you are living to the ends of yourself, or to God’s chief ends!
Third, I’m learning to: “Shift from Prayer being Zero Sum Game to an Infinite Sum Gain. We often look at life as a zero sum game of absolute winners and losers. There is so much bitterness in our world because the winners keep winning at grave expense of the losers. Our enemies are winning. The wicked. The corrupt. The oligarchy. The rich. The white. The Jewish. The capitalist. Whatever. Prayer doesn’t work because I keep losing. I’m poor. I’m bankrupt. I’m beaten down, bloodied, bruised, violated, left for dead. I’m without hope. Life is zero sum game. My life is Lamentations, woe is me, pity me.
You know the apostle Paul said an interesting thing as he languished in a Philippian prison, near death. Everyone had turned on him, even fellow Christian preachers were stirring up trouble for him. This is what he says, Philippians 3:21, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is what our brothers in Ukraine are learning. They are suffering right alongside everyone else. But it’s not a zero sum game for them. No, every moment of life (no matter how dark) is an opportunity to shine the light of Christ. So they stay. They welcome their suffering countrymen even as they themselves are suffering… comforting with the comfort they themselves receive from God. To live is Christ… and if today a bomb, or bullet, or bully snatches away their life, its eternal gain!
Philippians 3:21-29, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. 23 I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better— 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.”
“27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.”
What does it mean to make room for God? A shift in prayer from duty to delighting in God. A shift in prayer from evacuation (change of circumstance) to inviting transformation (change of character). A shift in prayer from playing a purely worldly zero sum game…. To living for Christ and receiving an eternal sum gain…