Prayer and Thanksgiving

I have long loved this picture. The old man's weathered face, in my mind, indicate a hard life. However, his bowed head and folded hands indicate a thankful heart. The question the picture asks of my life is, "How much stuff do you really need?" A Bible, eye glasses, a simple meal, a warm shirt, a table, and a room provide plenty for the man to give thanks. I want to grow to be more focused on the blessings I've received than the burdens I have to bear. May all of my requests be made to God enveloped in thanksgiving for all He has already provided.

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Sister Act
Prayer Before Meal
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Prayer and Humility

For those who would like more information concerning Ruby Bridges I have three recommendations. The movie, "Ruby Bridges" is an accurate portrayal of the events that I described in the sermon. It appears to be largely based on the information found in the children's book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, by child psychiatrist, Robert Coles. The book is wonderfully illustrated and would be acceptable to read even to young elementary children. Ruby tells the story in her own words in the book, Through My Eyes. Although still found in the children's section, the book contains pictures of the events it describes and would be better for older elementary school children. All of these can be obtained from the Freeman Public Library.


Finally, here is the picture that I showed this morning that caused such deep reflection in my own soul. Look carefully and see if you can see yourself in this crowd. God have mercy on me, a sinner.
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Ruby Bridges
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Scene 10
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God Answers Prayer

Finding illustrations of answered prayer from the Bible is a relatively easy thing to do. For one thing, the Bible stories come with a narrator who tells us information from "behind the scenes." For example, the narrator is the one who tells us that God relented (or repented) in the Jonah and Moses stories we talked about in the sermon this morning. In everyday life answered prayers are more difficult to observe. I have prayed for financial help more than once in my life and have been amazed at the unusual ways God has answered (such as someone giving me a car or my child being awarded a full tuition scholarship). I have also been amazed at the common ways the prayers have been answered (such as getting a raise or something costing less than I thought I would). Through both the unusual and the common answers to prayer there is often the question in the back of my mind, "How do you KNOW this was God answering the prayer?" The answer, of course, is that I know only by faith. If I ask God for something I need, when the need is supplied I am going to credit God with answering my prayer and offer a prayer of thanksgiving. I don't believe in God because he answers prayer; I believe in God and therefore pray, trusting him to supplies what I need.

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It's a Wonderful Life
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Partnering with God

This sermon was a real struggle for me to preach. How do I preach a sermon that motivates people to "always pray and not give up" while, at the same time, teach that prayer doesn't work? (If you missed the sermon my point is that prayer does not work, God works. Prayer is a partnership with Him to accomplish His will in this world. Thus, our faith is in God not in prayer.) The answer came to me as Liz and I watched the movie Bucket List yesterday. Even though the sermon was written my mind was still mulling it over trying to make sense of it so that I could communicate it on Sunday. In the Bucket List there is a wonderful scene when Carter, a Christian, is talking to Edward, an unashamed atheist, about faith. Carter asks Edward how he can live without faith. Edward offers some forgettable line when Carter simply says, "I just have faith." I leaned over to Liz and said, "That's it! That's the point I want to make tomorrow." Watching how the two men lived and died in the movie made the point that living with faith is far preferable to living without faith. Thank you Rob Reiner for preaching an excellent sermon to me!

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Shenandoah
We Done it all Ourselves
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Through the Shadows
Praying for Results
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Praying for Direction

When did it happen that church became primarily a religious organization to which one belongs instead of a people who live lives of reckless devotion following a God who loves adventure? I have long wrestled with the question of what it means to be a Christ follower in this culture. In what ways have I become a cultural Christian instead of a sold out follower of Jesus? How can I keep from being a go-through-the-motions Christian and instead be a Holy Spirit filled, people serving, God loving, Jesus follower? I know that a large part of the answer lies in praying for God's leading and direction in my life; followed by repentance and obedience.

My favorite meetings each week are the prayer groups I attend. There I meet with small (always small regrettably) gatherings of similarly desperate people seeking for God to lead, guide, heal, strengthen, encourage, and in others ways---ACT in this world for His own glory. How else can we expect God to lead us unless we first humble ourselves and become devoted to prayer? Is that not the first step of obedience?

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Cool Hand Luke
Needing Direction
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Facing The Giants
Call Upon The Lord
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Ritual Prayer

I listen carefully to comments made to me after a sermon. After preaching I wonder what people heard while I was preaching, what resolutions they made in their own mind, what questions were raised, etc... I received several interesting comments today. One person expressed disappointment that I did not use the King James version when we said the Lord's Prayer in unison at the conclusion of the sermon (I used the New King James version). They were not so much averse to the version used as longing for the nostalgic familiarity of the King James. Another person mentioned a prayer clip from the movie Patton that they thought might have fit well with that sermon (I'll check into it for future sermons in this series). Yet another asked when I'm going to show the meal time prayer from Sister Act. The answer: probably in a few weeks; I'd like to space out the meal time prayer as much as possible since that is the most frequent prayers to be found in the movies. However there was one comment that especially caught my attention. One person expressed appreciation for the sermon since it answered the question he has been asking for the past few weeks: Is it really o.k. to pray the words of others? This person has been involved in our Wednesday evening prayer sessions, praying daily through the Face to Face book, and spent an hour praying for our teenagers during our recent prayer chain. Thank you Lord, for working through me to answer a real heart question from one of your intercessors! This is what makes preaching worthwhile.

Here's the clips shown from this week's sermon:
Christmas Vacation
Aunt Bethany's Prayer
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Fiddler on the Roof
Sabbath Prayer
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Pray Continually

While working on this sermon this past week, I was reminded of how many things distract us from praying. I wrote a section in an early draft of my sermon to address this subject of distractions. We seem to be in a constant flurry of mind numbing activity: Ipods, blue tooth, email, texting, television, and video games come to mind. When are our minds ever simply at rest? The psalmist writes, "the heavens declare the glory of God, . . . day after day they pour forth speech;..." But, who is listening?

As I got in my truck to drive home from the office, I mindlessly turned on the radio. As the voice coming through my speakers rattled on about things that will have no relevance tomorrow, not to mention next year or ten years from now; it occurred to me -- what a perfect time to practice what I preach! I turned the radio off and had a few minutes of simple conversation with God.
Thanks Tevia, for reminding me that prayer can be continual when we allow ourselves to simply remember God.

Here's the clips from this week:

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Fiddler on the Roof
Lame Horse
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Fiddler on the Roof
Rich Man
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Fiddler on the Roof
Chosen People
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Fiddler on the Roof
Troubles, Troubles
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