Before
Amen, Part 2
Father,
I need help” John 2:1-10
Sunday,
May 17th, 2015-MRWC
After my wife
preached last Sunday and shared a few personal illustrations, I recalled a joke
I had read years before that went something like this;
A
new minister had recently been married. Upon returning home from their
honeymoon, the young wife turned to her husband with a box in her hand.
She said to her husband, “Please
promise me dear, that no matter what, you will never look in this box.”
Although
this seemed like a very strange request, the husband assured his wife that he
would never look in the box.
Twenty
years went by, and the seasoned minister was looking around his closet. (Probably
vacuuming or something)
He came across the box, which to him, had long been forgotten. He looked
at the box and said to himself, “surely
after all these years, it must be okay to peek inside.”
He
opened the box and found inside, $1,200 and three eggs. Just then, his wife
entered the room.
“I thought I asked you to never look inside the box” she said. Looking just a bit sheepish, the minister
apologized to his wife but then said that since he had peeked inside, would she
mind explaining the contents.
“Well”, the wife
responded, “if you must know, every time you
preached a bad sermon, I put an egg in the box.”
The minister pondered this for a moment, and rationalizes that he’s been
preaching for twenty years so three eggs was basically batting 1000!
“That explains the eggs, but what about the $1,200?” The husband asked.
His
wife replied, “Every time I got a dozen, I
sold them!”
I
guess her sharing a few stories about me is alright, after all I do talk about
her almost every time I preach, and today is no exception!
We
are in part two of our sermon series on prayer. It’s based on Max Lucado's
newest book called Before
Amen.
It
is in this book that Max teaches us about the “pocket prayer”. In this book,
Max tells us that he came up with this prayer, after looking at all of the
prayers in the Bible; and all of the prayers in the Bible fit into one of four
categories, that make up the pocket prayer.
Do
you have a copy? Maybe you got it a few weeks ago, or it’s included in the
bulletin today. It goes like this: “Father, you are good. I need help. They need help. Thank
you. In Jesus Name. Amen.”
All prayer is a conversation
with God, and this pocket prayer is meant to help you and I pray.
Some
of us have no trouble praying. We can and do pray about anything and
everything. Others of us may have a difficult time prayingà
that’s ok!
This
pocket prayer is meant to be a guideline to help those of us who love to pray,
and those of us to struggle to pray.
We’ve
already looked at the first part of the pocket prayer: “Father, you are good.”
All prayer must begin—or end—or
both—with the Goodness of God.
The
Psalmist wrote: “You are good, and what you do is good…”
(Psalm 119:68, NIV84)
At
another time and in another place, the Psalmist wrote these words: “Taste and see that
the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” (Ps
34:8, NIV84)
God
is good. He cannot be anything but good. And in a world that is often bad, we have a God who is good.
He invites us to come to Him and enjoy the good things He has to offer.
Our pocket prayer begins,
correctly, by reminding us that our Father is good.
For
the next few moments we are going to examine the second part of our pocket
prayer, the part that says: “I need help”
PRAY
ILLUSTRATION- I need help. I’m not sure if
this is a man thing or not, but hardly a day goes by where I don’t need help in
one way or another.
A
few years ago my wife sent me down a rabbit hole by purchasing me a Chop Saw;
which lead to me purchasing a table saw, a router, a drill press, an orbital
sander… and a few other tools.
Each
of these tools came with an instruction manual, but I gently placed that aside,
and asked Beth to help me understand this new tool, after all, she is a mom, my
wife, a teacher AND a carpenter’s daughter…
She would help me to understand the basics of my new tools. (And as you
can see, I’ve not lost my fingers…)
Not
only do I need help with some of my tools, I also need help with some of my
projects.
Take
this mirror for example. I finished this
a few weeks ago, and the part of this project that was giving me the most
trouble was the glass/mirror part.
After
figuring out that I could cut the glass on my own (translation: my wife could
show me how to do it) I purchased a glass cutter and a mirror and began cutting
it only to break it!
So,
I texted my wife and told her what I’d done, and she said, she would help me
when she got home!
I
know, or at least I hope, I’m not the only one in this room, who needs help. At
some point in time, all of us will need help from someone.
Ø We
will need help when we see the flashing red and blue lights from our rear-view
mirror;
Ø We
will need help if we break a limb;
Ø We
will need help if our car is stranded on the side of the road…
Whatever
the scenario is, all of us, at one point in time, will need help.
Thankfully,
a word of help is built into our pocket prayer. It’s very simple—say it with
me: “Father, I need help”
Allow
me to share some Good News with you this morning; maybe you’ll want to write
this down, because you’ll need this truth at some point this week: “God can handle our problems.”
Let’s
turn to John 2 for a moment and look at how Jesus handled a problem that
presented itself one day.
“…there
was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was
there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.
3 The wine supply
ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more
wine.”
4 “Dear woman,
that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5 But his mother
told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Standing nearby
were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold
twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus told the
servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, 8 he said,
“Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants
followed his instructions.
9 When the master
of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come
from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over.
10 “A host always
serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to
drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until
now!” (John 2:1-10, NLT2)
Let’s
follow the story and see what we can learn.
Jesus
had been invited to a wedding, as had His mother and Jesus’s disciples. While
they were attending this wedding, something happened—the wine ran out. In this
setting, it was a major problem.
Not
only was this embarrassing to this couple, but they would always be remembered
as the couple who didn’t adequately prepare for their guests, and it would hang
over their heads forever.
(This still
happens, whenever we get bad customer service, we are quick to tell others of
our bad experience.)
Sensing their
need, Mary took this problem to Jesus. Verse three says: “The wine supply ran out during the festivities,
so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”(Jn. 2:3, NLT2)
Mary was aware
of the problem, and she took the problem to Jesus. She didn’t get mad, she
didn’t get cranky. She simply took the need to Jesus and left it with Him.
Mary knew that God can handle our problems so she took this problem to Jesus.
When you have a
problem, where do you take it?
When I have a
problem, where do I take it?
When we have a
problem, where do we take it?
Do we go to Facebook?
(Yes) Do we turn to twitter? (YES) Do we pick up the phone and call someone for
help. (YES!)
While there is
nothing wrong with any of these things, our first step, before twitter, before
FB, before picking up the phone, should be taking our problems to God, because God can handle our problems.
ILLUSTRATION- A little over two weeks ago,
I ended up in the hospital again. Before I ended up in the hospital, I did a
lot of praying.
I
was at home dealing with a sore back and a high fever—both early indications of
an infection—and was I was lying in bed, I was asking God to help me, and to
bring the fever down.
Only
after I had gotten into the car on the way to the hospital, did I reach out on
social media asking for prayer.
I
wish I could tell you that this is always how I handle things when I need help;
pray first, ask for help second.
I’m learning
that God can
handle our problems, so I make a decision to go to God in prayer first, asking
for Him to intervene in whatever situation I’m in at the moment.
I’m learning to pray first, and ask others for prayer support second.
How about you?
What do you do when you have a problem? Do you talk to others before you talk
to God?
Can
I encourage you to try something different this week, instead of going to your
friends for help first, go to God first, because God
can handle our problems!
But
maybe you don’t want to bother God with every last little thing that’s bothering
you. If that’s the case, then listen to this word from the Apostle Paul.
“Pray in the Spirit
on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians
6:18, NIV84)
The
meaning behind this verse is that we are to pray general to specific prayers.
I.O.W.
God wants us to pray about everything because God
can handle our problems.
Mary
was aware of a problem at the wedding in Cana: the wine ran out. Instead of
calling the Daily Gleaner, she took her problem to Jesus.
I’m
learning that when I have a problem and need help, the best thing for me to do
is to go to God in prayer first, because God can handle our
problems!
Let’s
go back to our story and see what happened next. Because Mary took the problem
to Jesus, Jesus acted.
Originally,
He wasn’t going to intervene, but because someone He loved asked Him for help,
He fixed the problem.
Look again at
verses 6 and on: “Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish
ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus told the
servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, 8 he said,
“Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants
followed his instructions.
9 When the master
of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come
from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over.
10 “A host always
serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to
drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until
now!” (John 2:6-10, NLT2)
Jesus had
transformed the water used for ceremonial washing and turned it into wine. But
not just any old Walmart brand.
According to the
text, it was the best tasting wine the guests had ever had! Not only was it
quality wine, but there was plenty of it as well.
Some bible
teachers tell us that this amount would have produced over 2000 4 ounce glasses
of wine; still another bible teacher tells us that this would have been over
900 bottles of wine! (NIV Zon
com, and max Lucado)
The implication
is pretty clear: If we
take our problems to Jesus; He will do something about them!
Notice I didn’t
say: “If we take our problems to Jesus; he will FIX them. He may fix our
problems, but He may not.
ILLUSTRATION- I have been taking my need
liver related issues to God on a daily basis. Many of you have taken my liver
related issues before God on a daily basis.
As of this moment, He has not
fixed this problem. But I’m still asking.
Please
don’t miss what I’m about to say: God may fix your
problem. He may not. But He will fix you, and that’s the most important thing.
We
all need to be fixed; because well need help, and thankfully God can handle our problems.
So
here is what I want you to do with what you just heard:
#1 Admit you
need help.
I’ve
never met a human being yet who didn’t need help. At one point in time or
another, all of us will need help. So admit it.
Andy
Stanley has said: “Either you were a mess, are a mess or are one dumb
decision away from becoming a mess” (Stanley, 2012, 82)
At
one point this week, you are going to need help;
Ø It
could be with one of your kids;
Ø It
could be processing the news from the doctor;
Ø It
could you need Jesus to live inside of you and make you a new creation.
Whatever
it is that you will need help with, the first step to take is admit that you
need help.
The
very next thing to do is:
#2 Commit to
asking God for help, first.
While it’s ok to
ask a friend to help you when you’re in a tight spot, remember that God can
handle our problems, so go to Him first.
Peter wrote in
the book that bears his name: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
(1Pe 5:7, NIV84)
Paul wrote in
Philippians 4: “Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of
God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.” (4:6-7, NIV84)
God wants us to
come to Him with our problems, because He is the only one who can handle our
problems, so before we go to FB or twitter, let’s go to God first.
Ø If
you need help with your kids, talk to God first;
Ø If
you need help processing the news from the Doctor; go to God first;
Ø If
you haven’t enough money at the end of your week, go to God first.
Remember that God can handle our problems,
but we’ve got to go to Him with our problems, so why not take one day this week,
and if a problem comes your way that seems too great for you to deal with, give
it to God and let him fix you.
The band is
going to come back and we’re going to sing a closing song, and if you need help
today, and you would like for us to pray with you as you take your need to God,
then feel free to come to the front, or stand where you are and find a few
friends to pray with you, as you admit you need help, and take your problems to
God, because God can handle our problems.
Father, you are
good. I need help. They need help.
Thank-you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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