This man has singled-handedly....wait a sec....GOD, through this man.....has changed my life. His writings have played such a role in my faith journey. I have quite a library of his books....I follow his blogs and daily devos....and completely stalk his social media. I got to be the crazy stalker fan that I am and meet him. And take a selfie with him. And get his autograph on a book....ok, THREE books. And it was cool. Way cool.
Yesterday, my friends, Kim and Aaron, noticed that he was going to be speaking at a church in Fort Smith...a mere 3 hours from my house. We hopped in the car for an impromptu road trip! Let me tell ya....I like my Sunday afternoons at home. I won't drive that far for much of anyone.....in fact, I really can't think of another person that would make me drop everything and run to meet. Well, Jen Hatmaker. Yep...I'd drive that far for her.
Anyway. Great day. Great conversation. Lotsa laughs with those two crazies. And a big ole heapin' helping of blessings once we reached our destination. Just let me set the stage....
One of the most oldest, most beautiful churches I'd ever been in. Reminded me of a couple that I'd been in during my childhood. On the way there, I'd kind of envisioned a modern, huge church, arena style with seating for thousands, balcony, etc. We arrived at this quaint beautiful church....the huge bagpipe organ, wooden pews, intricate architecture....and a potty NOWHERE in site. :) The church was packed and we found a place to sit as we settled in to listen to MAX LUCADO preach!
I have to admit...I was a bit star-struck. For you see? I'd been a collector of his children's books for years. My first was the book "You are Special"....which is summarized as follows:
Punchinello is a little wooden person called a Wemmick. Wemmicks spend their days giving stickers: golden stars to "good Wemmicks" and dots to "not-so-good Wemmicks." Punchinello becomes covered in dots because he stumbles and has scratches, he can't jump high or do any tricks. As he is becoming discouraged though, he meets a Wemmick that has no stars or dots on her, Lucia. She tells him about Eli, the woodcarver, and how Punchinello should visit him.
Eli explains to Punchinello that the stars and dots stick only if you let them. He further explains that it doesn't really matter what other people think, because He, the Maker, thinks Punchinello is special.
He's special because Eli made him. Punchinello begins to believe Eli, and as he does, a dot falls to the ground. The lesson is this: We are all different and unique, and yet we are all special because God made each one of us in His image.
Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
My mother purchased that book for me while I was in youth ministry. Several times, it was my "go to" devotional and always a powerful one. I've probably purchased no less than 50 copies of this book throughout the years for gifts....because aside from its beauty, its message is timeless. It is definitely a family favorite.
Of course I didn't arrive at the church tonight, without my book in tow. AND....I got it autographed!! :)
His sermon touched me. I hung on his every word, even jotted a few notes on an offering envelope. We discussed his points on the drive home, and I couldn't wait to get home to my ipad tonight to write.
His latest book....which will be coming out in a couple of weeks....which I purchased, is entitled "Before Amen: The Power of Simple Prayer." I'm constantly finding myself saying these words:
"I'll pray for you."
"You're in my prayers."
"All we can do is pray...."
Know this...if I say those words....I am praying. I have friends and strangers and all kinds of requests and concerns and praises written in my prayer journal. The last is the one I want to touch on. All we can do???? All we can do, friends? Max spoke to me today. The power of Intercessory Prayer.
Please KNOW...I'm NOT a bible scholar. I am consistently intimated by those who are. So please don't debate me. I'm quite certain I would be proven wrong. But, in the spirit of THIS blog posting...in this arena...I'm jotting my notes from the sermon. He brought to us scripture from Exodus 32. Where he pointed out that God DID in fact "change his mind" at the plea of his people.
Exodus 32:9-10:
"(The Lord said), 'I have seen these people and they are a stiff-necked people...leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.' (God makes it very clear that He will - or at least wants to - destroy Israel)
Then come Moses' prayer, Exodus 32:11-14, where he gives three reasons why God should not destroy the people:
1) "But Moses sought the favor of the Lord, 'O Lord, why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
2) "Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'?
3) "Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.''
After which the text says that God relented and put His wrath on hold, Exodus 32:14, "Then the Lord changed His mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened."
Allow me to first state my understanding of what happened here. I think that what occurred is just what was recorded: God was angry and wanted to cancel the people out. Moses interceded. God changed His mind. That's basically it, in a nutshell.
God's repentance as a result of Moses' prayer reflected His great intimacy with Moses and demonstrates that God values relationships and allows those He loves to influence His actions. This attribute of God - His "shared" control together with His creatures - far from giving us a 'diminished' divinity, instead enriches it to present us with a true Person of love, of reciprocity, voluntary vulnerability (as only love can be) and an unselfish sovereignty.
We would consider someone seriously pathological who never allows the input of others to affect their decisions - why make an exception with God? Especially when His Word says, as clear as it can ever say, that God did indeed change His mind about His judgment that time.
I believe that this passage in question shows us just how much God values one who loves Him and sincerely and unselfishly pleads for the welfare of others. God repented of His decision when Moses prayed earnestly that He do so.
God. Changed his mind. Wait, what??? Let that sink in for a moment.
More powerful words...
Jesus NEVER turns away a "sincere Seeker". If we come to Him. If we take our desires and our concerns to Him....that, makes us believers. AND....we are never more like Jesus, than when in prayer for someone else.
God responds. Always.
We all pray ... some. We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. When the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When the marriage is falling apart. We pray. But wouldn't we like to pray more? Better? Stronger? With more fire, faith, and fervency? Max reminded me that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and His child.
A few of us "Football Moms" have begun praying together on Friday mornings. The couple of times that I've led...I've left feeling so inadequate. Who am I to LEAD a group of other Christian women in prayer? Max spoke to me today.... "a heartfelt conversation between God and His Children." I've held on to the fact until now....that the power of our prayer is not in the words that we speak to Him....but lies in He who hears our prayers. For again...."Jesus never turns away a sincere seeker."
We humans are prone to failure. We're experts at muddying, mixing, and messing up our lives. Who among us hasn't looked up from the bottom of a pit and realized that we dug it ourselves? Who hasn't fallen so far, messed up so badly that we thought there was no hope? And it's at these low points that we crave reminders that there's hope for the broken.
Healing. Grace. It ALL begins with a relationship with our "Maker." Just like the Wemmicks....we, as a society judge. We give gold stars....We give dots. But in the eyes of our "Eli"....our "Maker"....GOD....we are special. He made us in HIS image.
I remember once as a young teen....I had a part time job at the local McDonald's. My parents were super strict, and I always had a 10:30 curfew, while my friends all got to stay out at least until midnight. My mom always said..."Nothin good happens after midnight...you need to be home." Of course, she was right. But of course, I hated it. On weekends, I oftentimes worked the closing shift and meant that it was well after midnight when I got off work.
I got the bright idea that I would tell my boss that I had to be off by 9 or 10....but tell mom that I was closing. THEN....I could get to stay out with the rest of my friends....and my parents would be none the wiser, right? Wrong. One particular Saturday morning, I came into the kitchen and mom asked me how my work night was the evening before. I fell right in to my canned speech, about how we had two buses of ball teams right before closing and it took me FOREVER to clean up. My little white lie was a great story.
She left the room, and came back holding my time cared. That woman slapped it down on the counter. Which clearly showed I had clocked out at 9 pm. Busted. That woman was the smartest on the planet.
I don't remember my punishment clearly. But I do remember something she said to me.....
"I was your age once, too...." What? YOU? Were young once? haha She was. And, she REMEMBERED what it was like to be young. To be me.
God walked the earth as human, too. God, a human? Stunning truth. But he remembers. “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) There is never a time that he responds to our prayer with this thought: “I just don’t get it.” He knows how we feel.
And, this is huge, “He knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8)
You don’t have to write your own prescription. God doesn't need our counsel or advice.
“Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)
People sometimes say, “Be careful what you pray for, God will give it to you.” Bullcrap. If we don’t need it, He won’t give it. He loves us too much to give us the wrong answer. He is our Father who says: “I know the thoughts I think towards you…thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope…call upon me and pray to me and I will listen to you.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Prayer is only as good as God is. Since he is good, so is prayer. Prayer works because HE does. Prayer changes things because God changes things. Prayer makes a difference because God has determined to make a difference. Prayer matters because WE matter to God.
We are special. We are HIS. Let's start talking to Him....
Thank you, Max.
You're the bomb.
In Him,
Terri
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