More Than Bread

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There was a time in David’s life where he had lost everything that we would say was necessary for the good life. He was living in caves on the run from a King who wanted to kill him. Lost his family. Lost his home.  Lost his reputation. Lost his freedom. And it was during those days that he'd create this song of worship, this prayer. A Psalm of David written while he was in the desert. And the heart of that song, that prayer is "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you...your unfailing love is better than life."

It's kind of like when he had nothing, he knew that God was his everything.  God was his life. This is worship. It's more than a just a prayer, it's soul thirsty for God, a dull ache that arises when we miss him. It happens when we gaze upon his glory and then realize that his unfailing love is better than life itself. God give me you! That's the prayer!

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We have a heart problem. Revive our hearts O God! We let things into our hearts that we would never let pass our mouths. We let stuff into our eyes that would make us blush if we were there in person. In Psalm 51, David longs for a renewed purity of heart, so that he can reconnect with God, because when sin rules, life is without God. When I read Psalm 51, and look at the world around me, and within me, I find myself saying that a sin-soaked heart is life's greatest problem.

But there is a solution to life's greatest problem. And it starts with the prayer, "Revive my heart O God!"

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In Luke 10, Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission. It's really a battle, in a way he is actually sending them into battle, a spiritual battle. When they come back he tells them, "Good job. While you were gone I saw Satan fall like lightening from the sky." But here's the deal, here’s the crazy battle plan. When Jesus sent them out, he said, "Now go and remember I am sending you out as lambs among wolves." Jesus sends us into battle as sheep. Hows that for a crazy battle plan?  How are we going to win this war?  Be a sheep.  Jesus says if you wanna see Satan fall like
lightening from the sky.  Be a Sheep.
  
Psalm 23 is the prayer of a sheep to their shepherd. And it gives us the secret to success in the epic battle between God and evil!

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Nehemiah 9 contains the longest recorded prayer in the Bible. And we can learn a lot about prayer from this prayer. For example, prayer must be radically God-centered. This prayer of Nehemiah is saturated with God. He is our Creator, Redeemer, Grace-Giving, Wonder-Working, Lavishly Loving, Great and Almighty, Chastizer and Forgiver of our Sins. I wonder what people might learn about God, if they listened to our prayers?

More than once in Nehemiah 9, you will hear God described as a forgiving God,  gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. And why are they so taken by his forgiveness, his grace and compassion and abounding love?It's because they have come to realize their sin. Let Nehemiah 9 draw you into the story of your own life and know that He loves you with all His heart!

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Nehemiah is experiencing a great life, great success, influence and power in Susa, but then one day he gets a report of the difficult, discourarging, even tragic circumstances in Jesusalem and God places a holy discontent in his heart. So it says in vs 4, that Nehemiah sat down and wept. He mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven. This is travailing prayer. Travailing prayer is a painful, passionate pushing in order to see something new come to life. 

It requires a posture of brokenness, where we realize that the very best thing we have to bring to the table is our desperate dependancy on God. I think God is looking today for people who will pray like that!

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The name Jabez in Hebrew, literally means "pain" or even worse, "bringer of pain." Can you imagine being given that name? Every time someone called his name, it was a reminder of pain. A reminder that his life was a disappointment or a hardship to someone else. Some of you know what that's like, maybe it's not in your name, but it was what you were called...it's how someone spoke to you, about you. It was how you began to think about yourself. But at some point Jabez decided that his past would no longer rob his future.

So he prayed this prayer of breakthrough, "O Lord would you bless me and expand my boundaries. Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from being a pain to others." And God granted his request. Where are you looking for breakthrough? 

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Samuel the prophet was a man of great conviction who made a difference in his world at an early age. We might ask ourselves where have the Samuels of the  church gone?  Where are those people who will stand unmoveable upon the convictions of God. Where are the people who will listen for HIs voice?  Where are
the people who will not let a single one of His words drop to the ground? But if we are to ask those questions, we must first ask ourselves where are the Hannah's; with hands folded in prayer?

Hannah's prayer comes from the heart of a mother for the next generation. Listen to her prayer and take some time today to surrender and pray for the next generation!

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In this episode, I'm going to talk a little bit about disappointment and a little bit about blessing. Why am I talking about disappointment in the context of blessing? Well where does disappointment come from?  A common answer in our day is that it comes from a lack of self-esteem or a failure to accept ourselves as we are.  Maybe, but I'm convinced that the wiser answer is that disappointment is often an emotion that God provides to gentle remind us that there is more.

Isn’t that what blessing is? It’s the more of God. The problem is that somewhere along the way, we quit believing that God's blessing matters...or maybe we quit
believing that God really wants to bless us. But I'm telling you when it comes to blessing us, God is all-in!

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The prayer of Moses in Exodus 33 is "God we need your presence." And God responds, "You have found favor with me for you are my friend." If you know me, you know that few things having driven my life more than the desire to be used by God.  But in the last few years God's been refocusing my passion, so nothing would drive me more than being loved by God and loving God with all my heart. I don't want to fulfill his plans and miss his presence. 

So here is my question, "Do we value His presence over His power? Do we value His friendship over His favor? Every time I think of Moses, I find myself praying... "God, whether you use me or not, like Moses, would you help me in the last 1/3 of my life to simply be known as a friend of God. 

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Genesis 4:26 is the first time prayer is mentioned in the Bible. "At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD." People who pray, people who call upon the name of the Lord are people who are willing to take a posture of brokenness. They are people who are willing to admit that the very best thing I bring to the table is my desperate dependency on God.

Jesus if you don’t come, what I’m longing for will never happen. Jesus, I’m calling on your name. I can’t fix what is broken. I can't fix my heart. I need you. For what are you most desperate? What request has been on your lips that you know, if God isn’t in it. If Jesus doesn’t show up it’s not going to happen… bring that to Him, call upon His name!