East Side Church of God - Swift Current
Always Room For One More

Date:  January 29th, 2012

Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title:  Learning to Trust Again

 

Introduction I like to coach basketball and one of the challenges every year is to get a group of kids that are used to playing street ball to trust the coach, their teammates and the system.  It’s harder even for good athletes because they have largely been able to succeed because of their sheer athleticism.  They have been able to for the most part to do it on their own…but the higher you go in a sport the more you need to learn to trust and the less you can accomplish by sheer athletic ability.Phil Jackson, coached the NBA Chicago Bills to 3 Championships says that the key to the Bulls success was when Michael Jordan got the message: “Great players don’t win scoring titles they win championships.”  They make the whole team better.

 Well, basketball & the hockey arena are not just courts but microcosms of life. And in life too the lesson applies.

The challenge for us in North America is to trust God and not just “do it ourselves.” 

Paul Miller  (Quote 1)“One of the subtlest hindrances to prayer is the most pervasive.  In the broader culture and in our churches, we prize intellect, competency, and wealth.  Because we can do life without God, praying seems nice but unnecessary.  Money can do what prayer does, and it is quicker and less time-consuming.  Our trust in ourselves and out talents makes us structurally independent of God.”  

i.e. In chapter 6, Miller confesses his own struggle. “This is even true in my work of teaching people about prayer.  Even though I lead prayer seminars and wrote a study on prayer, up until a year ago, it never occurred to me to pray systematically and regularly for our prayer ministry.  Why not? Because I was not helpless. I could manage our ministry on my own.  I never said this or even thought it, but I lived it.” (p.54 A Praying Life)

 i.e.I know it as a tendency in my own life.  Over  the years I have ministered, organized, planned , preached and led church for 25+ years, it is easy to drift into prayerlessness because “I feel I can do it on my own…only when it is ineffective, or going south does the need for pray arise again. At many points in our lives we are brought to these forks in the road:  

Trust God or Trust Self? 

   

A. Salvation Issue

We face this fork at the very beginning our spiritual journey when we are confronted with the message of Jesus Christ.Jesus calls us to come & follow, to believe, to trust.We are called to trust the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin.  We are called to trust our eternal destiny and salvation on what Jesus did on that cross. Called to trust in God’s grace rather than our works.You see, typically we want to put our trust in our works, our goodness, our religious activity and involvement to make us acceptable to God.  But Isaiah tells us“All our works are like filthy rags.”

 Eph 2: 8, 9 says:For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)

And so our spiritual journey begins with a choice: Will I trust God or will I trust self.  Trust God’s Word or my way. 

B. Growth Issue

But this issue isn’t just something we face at the beginning of the spiritual journey it is a choice we make almost daily.  Will I trust God today or will I trust me? PrayerOur choice leads us down a road to prayerfulness or prayerlessness. Paul Miller says it this way (Quote 2):“If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life.  You’ll always be a little to tired, a little too busy.  But if, like Jesus, you realize you can’t do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find time to pray. Time in prayer makes you even more dependent on God because you don’t have as much time to get things done.  Every minute spent in prayer is one less minute where you can be doing something “productive.”  So the act of praying means that you have to rely on God.”

 Prayer reveals our recognition of our helplessness…our need of God. i.e.Interesting to look at the life of Jesus.Jesus modelled this God-dependent lifestyle.

  • John 5:19 – “The Son can do nothing of his own accord.”
  • John 5:30 – “I can do nothing on my own.”
  • John 8:28 – “I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

When Jesus tells us to live a God-dependent, prayerful life, he isn’t telling us to do anything he isn’t already doing.  Jesus essentially reminds us we can’t do life on our own.  When we realize that prayer makes sense…it filters into our lives.Jesus identity is wrapped up in his relationship with the Father.  To be doing things independent of him is a completely foreign concept. 

 

Paul Miller shares this great chart as well in the book. He basically debunks the idea that “strong Christians pray a lot.”  That is true but the reason they pray more is because they recognise how weak they are. 

As we mature as Christians, we see more and more of our sinful natures, but at the same time we see more and more of Jesus.  As we see our weakness more clearly, we see our need for more grace.  

The immature Christian on the left side of the chart has a small cross and a small view of their weakness and sin.  They have little need to pray.  The mature Christian on the right side has a large cross and a large view of their sin. 

The result?

They pray more. You see, when we are less mature when we look at our hearts we seldom see jealousy.  We are barely aware of our impatience. We see instead all the slow people around us.  We are quick to give advice….just do what I do. Surprisingly, mature Chrisians feel less mature on the inside.  They are more humble. When they hear Jesus say “Apart from me you can do nothing” they nod in agreement.  They are keenly aware of their need of grace in raising their kids. They see that this parenting job requires more talking to God and less speaking to their kids. They see business decisions not just through the lens of profit and loss, but impact on people and the community….they see need of wisdom.They see ministry not just about doing a program but see  the power in God to inject life in the program.  They see the things they have done on their own as being pretty ineffective. 

Mature Christians don’t just pray more because they have mastered discipline of prayer….they pray more because they recognise more their need of Christ. The very thing we are allergic to – our helplessness – is the very thing that makes prayer work. 

  • In John’s gospel  the wedding host came because he had no wine(John 2:3)
  • The Samaritan woman came because she had no water(John4)
  • The official came cuz his son had no health(John 4)
  • The crippled man beside the pool because he “no help” (John 5)The crowd had “no bread” (John 6)The blind man “no sight.” (John 9)
  • And Lazarus – “no life” (John 11)

They came because they were helpless.  They saw their need. And the more we grow as a Christian the more we see our need and the more we see the adequacy of Christ…which leads us to prayer. And so as we move down this road.  The more we are self-sufficient, can do it on our own, the more prayerless we will be.And the more we see our need, the more prayerful we become.  The paradox is that you get holier while you are feeling less holy. 

C. Road Conditions

What can we expect as we go down these roads…conditions?

But this isn’t the end of the road. If we continue down this road of choosing self-dependence and self-sufficiency over God-dependency it leads us to another outcome…ANXIETY.

Prayerlessness is rooted in the belief we can do it ourselves. Anxiety is the nagging reminder that we can’t do it ourselves. Anxiety is rooted in the desire to be god but it lacks wisdom, power and knowledge.Anxiety is self on its own….master of its world.  It tries to get control.It is the finite trying to be infinite but knowing it is not.Result: Anxiety The other road of increasing God-dependency leads not just to a more prayerful life but a peace-filled life. It brings the circumstances, and needs, problems and lays them before  Him. It practices Phil 4: 6, 7 – “Do not be anxious about anything but pray about everything….and the peace of God will guard your heart.” 

Paul Miller (Quote 3)“When you stop trying to control your life and instead allow your anxieties and problems to bring you to God in prayer, you shift from worry to watching.  You watch God weave his patterns in the story of your life.  Instead of being out front, designing your life, you realize you are inside God’s drama.  As you wait you begin to see him work, and your life begins to sparkle with wonder.  You are learning to trust again.”        

Let me wrap-up by sharing how we can move from self-dependence to God dependence. Built into the roads of life and geography of this world are some traffic signals and little roads that can lead us back.   

1.Signal  #1: Problems

Problems that are big enough that threaten to undo us lead us back.  It is either we become overwhelmed with anxiety and start medication or we move towards God

For many of us it was problems that led us to Christ.  Life wasn’t working.We needed divine help. We admitted that we didn’t have the capacity to control our life and we surrendered to God.

 i.e. Center After church – man confronted me with some good and valid questions:Do you know what you are getting into?Do you know what it is going to take to make this work?Went on to say “Getting into something far bigger than us.” I remember saying: “No I don’t know what we are totally getting into. No, I don’t know all it takes to make this work…& Yes, you are right we are into something bigger than us….but here’s what I know.  God has put this on our heart to do and I can’t walk away just because it is too big.” I went home feeling anxious.  What if we’re wrong?  What if it is too big for us?  What if we don’t raise the money?...Went home with an increased prayer life.  “Lord, please don’t fail us now.  We are completely in need of you.” Friends, God can use your problems for good.  He can use them to lead you back to himself.  To trusting him again.

  • Health problems
  • Marriage problems
  • Family problems
  • Financial problems
  • Life problems…

All of these present us with a choice again. Which road will I take? Will I go through these problems with God or without him? 

Signal #2: Anxiety

Anxiety is like a traffic light. See it as a signal to pray.Instead of fighting anxiety, we can use it as a springboard to bending our hearts to God. It signals that we are trying to step outside our arena and control what we can’t.  Let it be a stop light and something that leads us back to God. When we do that we shift from worrying to watching.  You watch for God to weave patterns in the story of your life. 

Signal # 3: Failure

Nothing teaches us like failure.  When we fail at something we go on a search for reasons. Every postgame show you hear the coach giving reasons for why the team didn’t win. Failure often confronts us with how what we are doing isn’t working.Signal not to give up, but to go to our knees and place our hands in God’s again. 

PRAYER EXERCISE

What road are you on?

What signals have you been encountering?

  • Struggles – Trying to push through them on your own or are you letting them lead you back to your knees?
  • Anxiety – Are you stressed, worried, fearful?  Is your heart or your circumstances generating problems? Let it keep generating prayer as well.  Let anxiety be an invitation and a prompt to pray.  Are you worried…bring it to God.
  • Failure – Have you come to the end of yourself…done with doing things your way.  Ready to take a new step.

All of these prevent an opportunity for you. A deciding moment.  Go with God or go my way. What’s your decision today? 

 

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