House of Prayer

The pre-service gathering was vibrant with energy that carried over into Pastor Brad's morning greeting as he commented on this noisy and exuberant hustle bustle of hugs and expressions of warmth and welcome. Indeed there is a celebratory aspect of worship, and then there is a quieter contemplative aspect.

Brad introduced his theme for the net two weeks: prayer. "Prayer is the battle," he stated, noting that we tend to get enamored with lesser forms of power. "What if prayer itself was the most powerful thing?"

A few announcements were conveyed. On the 13th we will be meeting at the Twig Town Hall for Rally Day. Joanne mentioned that we have had an expanding Sunday School program and would benefit from a couple additional teachers. Sunday School will begin Sept 20 and run thru Dec. 13. In addition, the adult Sunday School would welcome additional teachers for four week classes. Darlene will also be leading a choir during this class time.

The quartet was joined by Levi on the drums this morning for worship. After a reading of Psalm 89 we were lifted up by the great Gospel song "Yes, I Am."

The Scripture reading after the offering included passages from Psalm 45 and Mark 7. This was followed by a prayer time, suitable to today's theme.

House of Prayer

Brad held up Philip Yancey's book Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference to begin this morning's message. Yancey tells how he has had the opportunity to travel extensively in the very darkest places of the world, places with great persecution. There is a natural inclination to help in the face of such suffering, but the single most repeated request was for prayer. "Just pray for us."

Before turning to today's text Brad asked, "How satisfied on a scale of zero to ten are you with your prayer life?" Ten would be the top end. You carve out times to be alone with God, your first instinct in times of need is to pray, and you carry prayer concerns not simply of your own but for the whole world.

On the other hand, if you find yourself largely prayerless, and your prayer life is blocked by patterns of sin or unforgiveness, if you allow busyness to make you fairly prayerless and prayer is a burden for you, then that would be zero.

Then Brad asked, "Where would yo like that number to be a year from now when we meet here on August 30, 2010? What level will you be praying at then?"

Brad was setting us up for a challenge. Brad's goal for himself and for each of us is to have a deeper sense of prayer than before. No matter what else gets accomplished, this goal will be number one.

Jesus said in Luke 19:46 that "My house shall be a house of prayer."

Brad asked each of us to do our part, not only to pray but to ask for prayer. Then he had us turn in our Bibles to Exodus 17 beginning at verse 8.

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Beginning with this passage Pastor Brad intended to draw out five things about prayer. First, I need to recognize my utter dependence upon the power of God. God's prevailing power flows through people who pray.

This is the first time in Scripture that Joshua, who later led Israel into the Promised Land, is mentioned. The Amalekites have attacked Israel, and Joshua leads the battle. Moses, meanwhile, climbs a mountain, accompanied by Aaron and Hur, to intercede in prayer. As long as Moses' hands are lifted, the tide of the battle flows in the favor of Israel. But when Moses lowers his arms to rest, the momentum of battle moves the other direction. Upon recognizing this, Moses sits and uses the help of Aaron and Hur to keep his hands lifted for the remainder of the day.

From an earthly point of view, Joshua went down in history as the winning general. But it was only by the power of God that he won, power released through the intercession of Moses. The battle was not won in the battle, Brad said, but on the hillside.

Prayer is not an aid in battle. Prayer is the battle.

This kind of thinking has significant ramifications. What if church growth is not about strategies for growth, but has more to do with the hidden person or persons who were praying?

Maybe our church is being blessed because of those unseen lifted hands. Whatever you do, don't stop now. God's prevailing power flows through those who pray.

Brad described the manner in which the Stealth Bomber makes an impression on people when they see it. But he said compared to prayer even this is an inferior form of power. "We tend to get impressed by inferior forms of power," he said. This is nothing new. The Psalmist wrote of it in this passage: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God."

We trust in God, and His power is released through prayer.

Great Worship

With summer winding down we gathered again this morning for a time of worship and fellowship this 12th Sunday after Pentecost. Pastor Brad and his family were back from a Colorado camping trip and ready for the fall kickoff of a new Sunday school season coming soon. Rally Day will be Sunday September 13, with additional information to come.

Brad began by promoting his theme, based on Exodus 33, that it is not success or security or freedom that matters most, but having God's presence in our midst, whatever our circumstances.

The worship was contemporary and meaningful this morning. Brad read from Psalm 84 to set the tone. "How lovely is You dwelling place, O Lord." After the offering he also read John 6:56ff.

During the prayer time we remembered many needs in our church family. Several anniversaries were also mentioned, including Borndals (29), Newmans (30) and Olsons (52). Following two more worship songs, Pastor Brad took the pulpit to deliver today's message.

Great Worship

Brad said his theme this morning would essentially be this: what does it mean to be a worshipping community? Today's message began with Exodus 33:1-6.

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."

4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.' " 6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

God has made an offer to His people, and when you think about it, He has given them everything they could have ever wanted, freedom from Egypt, guidance, success, protection, and now they were about to enter a homeland flowing with milk and honey. "But I will not go with you." God says in verse 3. In other words, "You get everything you've always wanted, but you just won't have Me."

Many churches would actually accept this. Not Israel. They wanted God's presence.

Have you told God that above all else you want to live in His presence? Do you want to live day by day, moment by moment in the presence of God?

This is not mindlessness, which is so very common. For example, have you ever read a page in a book and when you got to the bottom of the page you didn't know what you just read?

After a humorous personal anecdote Brad admitted that he doesn't always live with God's presence, sometimes rushing through prayers in order to get to other things he wants to do. He emphasized that we can't allow ourselves to live a life of mindless drifting.

This led us into Jacob's dream in Genesis 28.

After Jacob had left home he stopped for the night in a certain place. While sleeping he had an incredible dream of a stairway leading to Heaven, with angels ascending and descending, and God, looking down upon him from above, blessed him. Brad noted Jacob's response. "Surely the Lord is in the place and I did not even know it!" Jacob understood he was in the presence of God, and exclaimed, "How awesome is this place!"

What Moses and Jacob had, God wants all of us to experience, to see and know God's awesome presence in this place.

We're not to be just spectators either, Brad urged. He then gave an overview of a typical Sunday morning service here, and how we can get more engaged and experience more of God through our worship.

Usually there is a somewhat festive mood in the sanctuary with hugs and warmth. As we settle, we need to take a moment to still our hearts, prepare our hearts.

Prayer time is for all of us. Use that time for personal prayer, he said. It is not spectator time.

In the passage from Exodus 33 we see Israel gathered at the Tent of Meeting, but only a few enter in. Our worship is for all to participate in.

Did you know there are 41 Psalms that command us to sing to God? This is why singing is a part of our worship. The offering is also a part of our worship. As we give we can also be praying that God will do something great with this gift. And even announcements give us an opportunity to pray.

And when we learn together, that's an act of worship. Moses tells God he wants to know more about Him. It is a desire we can all have. And right now God is longing to reveal Himself to you. At the climax of this story in Exodus, after Moses had seen God like he never had before, it says he bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. Moses poured his heart out to God.

Well, we're going to do that right now... Be open to God speaking to you, and as Moses did we're going to respond to God.