I may have just prayed the stupidest prayer I have ever prayed.
In my sermon last week, the big idea was “We should wait for God’s deliverance because only God can deliver us from all our struggles.” It came from Psalm 25.
I preached the message about being in relationship and expectation with God concerning both our internal and external struggles. I talked about inward and outward transformation only coming from God. I delivered the message. I prayed. Then I sang Everlasting God (“strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord”) with the congregation and thought we were done.
But then, God messed everything up.
At the point where I usually summarize the message, then bless the congregation, God led me into a different direction and I asked*, “Do you know why David was such a great King? It was because he knew he was over his head, he couldn’t handle his internal and external struggles and he waiting on the Lord. He turned to the Lord for deliverance because he couldn’t do it on his own.”
And then I prayed the most foolish thing I’ve ever prayed before.
In the prayer, I asked God, “I would ask that you make sure this church is always in over its head . . . so we are always, always, always in need of your guidance and direction so that your glory can be shown.”
So, there we go, that’s it. I even said in my prayer that my own spirit didn’t want to pray this prayer. Part of me wishes I hadn’t prayed that prayer.
I like my comfort. I like being able to handle all my internal and external struggles by myself.
I think the Spirit prompted me to pray that prayer because at the end of the day, if the Orchard Church is doing things we are comfortable and capable to do . . . then God isn’t empowering it. We are.
So we’re over our heads. We’re starting a Saturday night service and don’t have much in place. We need to make disciples and we can’t. We need to evangelize and we are deficient. We need to show our neighbors the love of Jesus and we can’t even get through one day of showing our own families that same love.
Being in over my head is not a place I like to be.
It was a foolish prayer. It was a prayer to keep the Orchard Church perpetually weak.
But I prayed it because the Holy Spirit led me too, and “because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength” 1 Cor. 1:25 HCSB).
*This is generally what I said. For exact words please listen to the sermon.
In my sermon last week, the big idea was “We should wait for God’s deliverance because only God can deliver us from all our struggles.” It came from Psalm 25.
I preached the message about being in relationship and expectation with God concerning both our internal and external struggles. I talked about inward and outward transformation only coming from God. I delivered the message. I prayed. Then I sang Everlasting God (“strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord”) with the congregation and thought we were done.
But then, God messed everything up.
At the point where I usually summarize the message, then bless the congregation, God led me into a different direction and I asked*, “Do you know why David was such a great King? It was because he knew he was over his head, he couldn’t handle his internal and external struggles and he waiting on the Lord. He turned to the Lord for deliverance because he couldn’t do it on his own.”
And then I prayed the most foolish thing I’ve ever prayed before.
In the prayer, I asked God, “I would ask that you make sure this church is always in over its head . . . so we are always, always, always in need of your guidance and direction so that your glory can be shown.”
So, there we go, that’s it. I even said in my prayer that my own spirit didn’t want to pray this prayer. Part of me wishes I hadn’t prayed that prayer.
I like my comfort. I like being able to handle all my internal and external struggles by myself.
I think the Spirit prompted me to pray that prayer because at the end of the day, if the Orchard Church is doing things we are comfortable and capable to do . . . then God isn’t empowering it. We are.
So we’re over our heads. We’re starting a Saturday night service and don’t have much in place. We need to make disciples and we can’t. We need to evangelize and we are deficient. We need to show our neighbors the love of Jesus and we can’t even get through one day of showing our own families that same love.
Being in over my head is not a place I like to be.
It was a foolish prayer. It was a prayer to keep the Orchard Church perpetually weak.
But I prayed it because the Holy Spirit led me too, and “because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength” 1 Cor. 1:25 HCSB).
*This is generally what I said. For exact words please listen to the sermon.
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