Prayer- The Key to God's Muchness

PRAYER: THE KEY TO GOD’S MUCHNESS
James 5:13-16

Sermon by Judy Turner

Our Abundant, Generous God
Occasionally John and I have had dinner in a fancy restaurant, enough to form the impression that the pricier the menu, the smaller the quantity of food. You pay for all that empty space on the plate, with small dabs of food artistically arranged, so that you can hardly recognize what they are, with a sauce dribbled in a design -on that mostly empty plate. No, when we go out to eat, we want abundance. The word “buffet” captures our attention. I’ve recently been introduced to the word “muchness”, and I like that word. What comes to your mind when you think of muchness? Do you think of hitting the accelerator and feeling the muchness of the horsepower in a powerful engine? Do you think of a summer garden that has not been discovered by Japanese beetles or squash bugs- with every plant and vine laden with colorful flowers and succulent vegetables? Do you think of big crowds and stadiums and a last second field goal by which your team wins the Super Bowl? Do you think about having the whole family home for a holiday meal?

God is the God of much- lavish, abundant, overflowing. One of the reasons we love the Psalms is that they paint such beautiful pictures of God’s abundance. Pslam 36 says, “both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings, they feast on the abundance of your house, you give them drink from you river of delights.” The most loved of the Psalms, 23, begins with, “The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. (the timely provision from God’s abundant supply). Even facing the threat of enemies, “you spread a feast before me in the presence of my enemies.” And from the New Testament, Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God has abundant resources, and God is generous.

Deception: God is Stingy and Withholds Good Things From Us
The first deception of the enemy of our souls is recorded early in the Bible- when the serpent suggests to one of the first human beings, Eve, that God is stingy and wants to withhold something desirable from her. The serpent whispers, “Did God say that you could not eat of every tree in the garden?” Actually what God said to her was: “You can eat of every tree in the garden…except for one. And that restriction was because God wanted to keep his children from evil, not because He wanted to keep back any good thing from them. But that remains a favorite deception of the enemy of our souls- to make us doubt the goodness and the generosity of God. Then we start thinking we need to take control of our lives and grab whatever we can however we can because we know better than God what will fulfill us and make us happy. Part of our maturing in faith is not to fall for that one!

Accessing God’s Muchness Through Prayer
Our text this morning is about accessing God’s muchness through prayer. James 5:13-16
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

A Continual Conversation With God
According to this passage, when do you pray? When you’re troubled or in trouble, when you’re happy, when you’re sick, when other people are sick. I think James is giving these specific situations, but in essence is saying, if you want to live with a lifeline to God’s abundance, pray continually, anytime, in all circumstances. Have a continual conversation with God. Sometimes that conversation is more focused and intentional, but we can talk with God anytime, anywhere. My definition of prayer: a conversation with God in which God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Prayer and Sickness
Sickness is an occasion for prayer. All healing comes from God, from the way He has created our bodies to fight illness and recover, to what He has given us the minds to discover through the practice of medicine, to the flow of supernatural healing power that is released through prayer. Particularly when a sickness is caused by sin, spiritual honesty and prayer is prescribed. You’ve looked at that banner for a long time now that says, “Spiritual Honesty”. Have you thought about that as a prescription from the Great Physician for your well-being? Sin in our lives affects our health. And agreeing with God concerning our sin, which is confession, and particularly when we confess in the hearing of trusted Christian friends who pray with us, releases healing power. Let’s quickly say that not all sickness is caused by sin. Think of what Jesus says in John 9 when the disciples see a man born blind and ask, “Who sinned?” Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life.” But sin negatively affects every aspect of our lives, including our physical health. There is a connection between the health of our souls and the health of our bodies. I’ve witnessed people’s health improve when they stopped doing something they were ashamed of. I’ve witnessed people’s health improve when they forgave someone. I’ve experienced the power in getting past sin in my life that comes from asking trusted Christian friends to pray with me. And the freedom from sin results in feeling better in every way. The point is, whether the needed healing is physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational, the muchness of God can overflow into us through prayer, bringing spiritual and physical healing.

Prayer Is Powerful and Effective
James says prayer is powerful and effective. Do we believe that?
It seems that in a town a man opened the first pornography store, not far from a church. The members of that church were strongly opposed to this store, and began to pray that God would intervene. A few days later, lightning hit the store and it burned to the ground. The people of the church were surprised but very pleased until they received notice that the owner of the pornography store was suing them. He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. In a strongly-worded deposition the church denied the charge.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge wryly remarked, “At this point I don’t know what my decision will be, but this appears to be the situation. The owner of the pornography store believes in the power of prayer, and these church people don’t.”

The Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Person Triggers the Muchness of God
James says that the fervent prayer of a righteous person triggers the muchness of God. A “righteous” person is not a perfect person, or even a super saint. A righteous person is committed to doing God’s will and to cultivating a relationship with God that knows God’s heart. Very ordinary people can be righteous because of the grace of God that covers us. This powerful force of prayer is available to us. “Fervent” means energy and passion directed at accomplishing something. This is not ritual. This is not a rote, “Thank you God for the food. Amen.” It’s an energetic prayer- prayer of passion, boldness, and persistence from the heart.

When I was working with the new church ministry of the Disciples of Christ, I’ll never forget a conversation with a Korean new church pastor. He was starting the Evergreen Christian Church. I asked about the name. He explained that in Korea a common practice among Christians is when God invites you to a time of extended prayer for something only God can do, you hold onto a small evergreen tree as you pray for hours. You keep praying until you receive an answer from God. You might receive a “yes” that God is already at work to answer that request, or that the nature of the request needs to be changed so that God can answer it, or that you need to wait, and receive the patience from God for the waiting, or that the answer is no, and receive from God the trust that He is still in control and is at work for good in all things. You pray fervently until you get an answer from God. And the intensity of your prayer will actually bend that tree. And whenever you see that bent tree it will remind you of that conversation with God and God’s faithfulness. “We want to be a church that gives witness to the world of the greatness of God and through whom God demonstrates what only God can do. So we must have people who are devoted to prayer and persistent in prayer,” he said. “That’s why we have named our church “Evergreen Christian Church”.

The Sin of Self-Sufficiency
You often hear how passionately Christians pray in countries where they are oppressed and persecuted. Perhaps some of us are thinking, “Well, of course. If I were a persecuted Christian, my need would drive me to trigger God’s muchness by prayer. But I’m an American Christian. I earn a good salary. I can pay all my bills. I have good health. I’ve got good friends. I take vacations. I’m not in need.”
Dr. Joe Stowell says, “Do you really think it’s compatible with being a Christ-follower to think like that? The darkest moment in a Christian’s life is when he looks in the face of God and says, ‘I have no needs.’ It is the worst self-deceit. In Revelation 3, Jesus says to the church at Loadicea: ‘You make me sick because you say, I am rich and have need of nothing.’ They were guilty of the sin of self-sufficiency. Christ tells them that in reality they are wretched, naked, poor, and blind. The letter concludes with the graphic picture of Jesus standing outside the door of the self-sufficient heart, knocking and wanting to come in. The muchness of God is triggered by the prayers of people who know how much they really need Him.”

Prayer Changes Us
Perhaps what we most need is something we don’t think of right away when we list the benefits of prayer. In fervent prayer we spend a great deal of time with God. We get to know God, know His heart. That is our greatest need, to know God, personally, intimately. I watched a video filmed at the National Prayer Breakfast this week. The keynote speaker was a Hollywood screenwriter named Randall Wallace. He did the writing for movies like Braveheart and Secretariat.
He is known for something unusual in Hollywood. It is known that he prays. The focus of his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast was why prayer is important to him. Toward the conclusion of his speech he said, “I don’t know if prayer changes the mind of God. But I know prayer changes me.”
Somebody has likened prayer to an anchor. My life is a boat at sea. God is the safe harbor, the land. When I pray, I cast my anchor, and I am attached to the eternal, the enduring. As I continue in prayer, I am drawn closer and closer to the land. One of the wonders of a life of prayer is that by spending time with God, talking with God, I actually become more and more like God. I become a person of muchness, gracious and generous. How amazing is that!!