prayer ministry update
I haven't prayed in well over a month. Not since my prayer retreat actually. (Except perhaps one-liners for specific things friends have asked for prayer for.) I got tired of saying the same things over and over, not having a clue whether or not they were even 'doing any good.' Once in awhile I feel a slight brief twinge of guilt, but for the most part, since I didn't like doing it anyway, it hasn't bothered me. It's been nice to not be frustrated and bored. Yes, I've known it's been wrong of me, but oh well. It's just been too nice not doing it.
And then there was the sermon today. The pastor's out of town, so it was the former youth leader preaching, who, to be perfectly honest, I like better. His sermons always hit me. He only preaches about twice a year, but I always appreciate it when he does.
Today he preached on Isaiah 6. Yeah, you know, that whole 'here am I, send me' passage. I wish my internet had worked right after church so I could've recorded all my thoughts while they were fresh, but my prayers were answered with a no, so I'll have to do the best I can now.
Isaiah realized his place before GOD - 'Woe is me, for I am unclean, as are all my people.' He was scum. And yet somehow he was permitted before the Throne. There his guilt was taken away and his sin forgiven. He knew all this. Thus, when GOD asked, 'Whom shall I send,' Isaiah jumped at the opportunity to serve. 'Here am I! Send me!' And GOD said, 'Go.'
What HE did not say was, 'Go to these people who will listen to you,' or 'Go, and you will see MY Hand at work,' or 'Go, and you will like what you're doing,' or 'Go for a short period of time until everything is fixed.'
No. HE said, 'These people aren't going to listen to you. They aren't going to understand what you're doing. You're not going to see any results. Do it anyway.' And Isaiah did. Faithfully.
It's a matter of serving GOD by serving people. If we focus on serving people, we're going to be frustrated that we're not getting anything out of it. If we focus on serving GOD, that won't matter, because we'll be happy to be working in obedience to HIS will, to be furthering HIS Kingdom. So what if we don't really understand the immediate point. The main point is that we're responding to GOD, and who knows? Perhaps something is being done that we don't see. As Charles Price said in the quote I posted after the last sermon I heard on Isaiah 6, "It takes courage and godliness to fulfill a ministry that no one ever sees the fruit of."
Will I see the fruit of my prayer ministry? Probably not. But I have been called to it anyway, and I need to be faithful in it. It has nothing to do with whether or not I get anything out of it. It has nothing to do with my comfort level. Yes, it's more comfortable to not pray. But it was more comfortable for JESUS to stay in Heaven than it was for HIM to come to Earth. It's the very, very least I can do.
And then there was the sermon today. The pastor's out of town, so it was the former youth leader preaching, who, to be perfectly honest, I like better. His sermons always hit me. He only preaches about twice a year, but I always appreciate it when he does.
Today he preached on Isaiah 6. Yeah, you know, that whole 'here am I, send me' passage. I wish my internet had worked right after church so I could've recorded all my thoughts while they were fresh, but my prayers were answered with a no, so I'll have to do the best I can now.
Isaiah realized his place before GOD - 'Woe is me, for I am unclean, as are all my people.' He was scum. And yet somehow he was permitted before the Throne. There his guilt was taken away and his sin forgiven. He knew all this. Thus, when GOD asked, 'Whom shall I send,' Isaiah jumped at the opportunity to serve. 'Here am I! Send me!' And GOD said, 'Go.'
What HE did not say was, 'Go to these people who will listen to you,' or 'Go, and you will see MY Hand at work,' or 'Go, and you will like what you're doing,' or 'Go for a short period of time until everything is fixed.'
No. HE said, 'These people aren't going to listen to you. They aren't going to understand what you're doing. You're not going to see any results. Do it anyway.' And Isaiah did. Faithfully.
It's a matter of serving GOD by serving people. If we focus on serving people, we're going to be frustrated that we're not getting anything out of it. If we focus on serving GOD, that won't matter, because we'll be happy to be working in obedience to HIS will, to be furthering HIS Kingdom. So what if we don't really understand the immediate point. The main point is that we're responding to GOD, and who knows? Perhaps something is being done that we don't see. As Charles Price said in the quote I posted after the last sermon I heard on Isaiah 6, "It takes courage and godliness to fulfill a ministry that no one ever sees the fruit of."
Will I see the fruit of my prayer ministry? Probably not. But I have been called to it anyway, and I need to be faithful in it. It has nothing to do with whether or not I get anything out of it. It has nothing to do with my comfort level. Yes, it's more comfortable to not pray. But it was more comfortable for JESUS to stay in Heaven than it was for HIM to come to Earth. It's the very, very least I can do.
posted by melilotnfosco | 4:48 PM
7 Comments:
this in no way does the sermon justice. these aren't remotely the thoughts i wanted to post. oh well. what can i do?
Well, I still think what you wrote is good. :) And a good reminder, thank you. :) It's perfect timing too, since I'm discouraged right now. And I wasn't going to bring Ron Paul into it, but sorry, I can't help it -- I just got done making phone calls for him that didn't go well, so that's fresh on my mind. But what you said was a good reminder, that we're not promised it'll go well or that we'll be listened to or that we'll see the results or that people won't think we're crazy or whatever. I liked this part: "So what if we don't really understand the immediate point. The main point is that we're responding to GOD..." God's probably using this to change ME. :) (And I'm sure I'm making a difference too; it's just that I don't completely know what kind of a difference that is. Hopefully I'll get to see some of it when I get to Heaven though. :) (and I'm sure He'll share what a difference you made to, that you didn't notice while you were here)
oops, i meant too, not to :)
thank you. and yes, when we serve GOD by serving others, we change, which is also a big point of it all. :)
Oh sermon timing! :)
How's your prayer time been going since?
well, i prayed today and it was good :)
very good message. it's hard and frustrating to be doing what God has called you to do and not see it going anywhere. believe me, i know.
sometimes it's because God is working in those people in ways you cannot see. He's a big picture God, remember?
other times, it's because God is working in YOU in ways you cannot see, either because He hasn't revealed it yet or because you're looking for the wrong thing.
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