A Father's Diligence; A Son's Redemption

As most of you know, in July, 2011, I challenged our church people to put to paper seven miracles they would like God to do for them. I then asked them to pray throughout the upcoming year concerning those miracles. On Sunday, August 5, 2012, we spent our Sunday Morning listening to testimony after testimony of miracles that God had performed. In fact, the testimonies lasted for an hour and a half!  Over the next few days I want to share some of those miracles with you. It is not that the ones I share are more important that others, but I just felt impressed to share these.

For almost twenty years, almost every time I asked for prayer requests, whether in our corporate worship services or in small group meetings, Charles Wooten would say, "Remember my children." He was referring to some of his children who had strayed from their relationship with the Lord. Occasionally, he would say, "Remember my children to be saved." I have heard that request almost twice a week for nineteen years, but I know he has made that request and prayed for the salvation of his children for many more years than that. You see, Charles is in his nineties.

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, Charles came to our weekly Wednesday morning Bible Study, and he smiled and said, "I have something I need to tell you. Frank (that's one of his sons) got saved yesterday!" Frank had called his dad and told him that the day before, a young lady was talking to Frank and asked him to pray for her. Frank told his dad, "I knew I wasn't saved and I couldn't pray for her until I prayed for myself." So before he prayed for the young lady, Frank asked Jesus into his heart! The answer to a decades-long prayer request!

But that is not the end of the story. Charles told me that story on Wednesday. The next day, Thursday, Charles received a phone call and Frank had a massive heart attack and was in the hospital unconscious. On Friday, Frank passed from this world, but as a result of that prayer on Tuesday, he entered into an eternal home prepared by the Master!

Now Frank, Charles, nor any of us had any idea what would happen on Thursday. But God did! And I am convinced, that because of His great love, He sent a little girl to ask Frank to pray for her. God is always reaching out to us, always trying to make every effort to bring salvation into our life.

So Charles has experienced one of those amazing Christian contradictions. While he is sad over the loss of Frank, he also rejoices because he knows Frank is now in the presence of Jesus...all because a little girl wanted prayer (and a diligent Father kept praying for his children)!

Never quit praying. Never quit trusting. Keep believing. While you may not see God's answer this moment, who know's what might happen?

A Bad Day

In Acts 16, we are told the story about Paul and Silas in a prison cell in Philippi. Let me set up the story for you. Paul cast a demon out of a young lady who was a fortune-teller. Her handler doesn’t like it because when she lost the ability to tell the future, she also lost the ability to make money for him. So he has Paul and Silas arrested.

Acts 16:22-24 (NLT) says, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.” 

For most of us, it is difficult to identify with this situation. We have all had bad days before, but nothing like what Paul and Silas are experiencing. They were probably emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausted.

Their backs were bleeding from the beating they received. They are bruised from head to toe So physically, they are spent. They had a mob rise up against them. I'm sure that emotionally drained them. And to top it off, they are now in the dungeon of a prison with their feet in stocks.

It doesn’t get much worse than that. That’s what makes the next verse so amazing. Acts 16:25 says,  “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” 


How could they do it? How can they sing in such a difficult situation? They were worshipers! You can be a worshiper or you can be a complainer. Paul and Silas chose to be a worshiper. They made a pre-decision that regardless of the situation, they would worship God!

We can make that same decision as well! Paul and Silas knew a secret that we often forget...worship is based on the worthiness of God not the comfortableness of our situations.

Let's Zoom Out!

Vicki Medvec, a professor at Northwestern University, did a fascinating research study concerning bronze and silver medalists at the Olympics. She was trying to determine who was the happiest of the two groups and why. She discovered that Bronze medalists were happier than Silver medalists because the silver medalists tended to focus on how close they came to winning gold and didn't...so they weren't satisfied or happy with the silver. Bronze medalists focused on how close they came to not winning a medal at all so they were just happy to have one a metal.

What she really discovered is what students of human nature have known for years: your focus determines your reality. As illogical as it may seem, happiness is not measured by an objective set of circumstances in our lives but by our subjective focus.

A great truth that will radically transform our lives is this: Your internal attitudes are more important than your external circumstances. Think about the original humans in the Garden of Eden. They had paradise given to them. They had access to everything the world could offer, but one thing. Their attention became laser-focused on that one thing and they were discontent about everything else. Think about Daniel and the three Hebrew young men in Babylon. They were in captivity. Babylon is the Biblical representative of everything wrong in the world. Yet they maintained their integrity. What was the difference? Their focus!

All of us know people who can find something good to focus on even when they are experiencing bad circumstances. We also all probably know someone who can find something bad to focus on in spite of all the good their lives..

You see, we tend to see what we’re looking for. Spiritually speaking, there are two basic types of people in the church world: complainers and worshippers. Complainers can always find something to complain about. Worshippers can always find something for which they can give God glory.

A worshipper makes a decision to always praise and worship regardless of their circumstances. This week we are going to be looking at a familiar story in the Bible that illustrates this principle in the lives of two Bible heroes.

Civilized

There is a great scene in Rocky III, where Rocky is confused about Mick's refusal to sign a fight between the World Champion, Rocky Balboa, and a mouthy challenger, Clubber Lang (the role that brought Mr. T to our attention). Clubber is a tough street fighter, who is just destroying everyone he fights. Rocky has been fighting cream-puffs and even "fights" wrestling star Hulk Hogan (again a role that made him famous). Rocky is angry at Mick for refusing to fight Lang and keeps questioning why he refuses the bout. Mick gives a great line, “...the worst thing happened that could happen to any fighter. You got civilized!”


That is not only true about fighters, that is true about worship! In the gospels, the only civilized people that are mentioned are the Pharisees, and Jesus was never very impressed with them. In fact, He is consistently lambasting the Pharisees. Yet He praises a prostitute who doesn’t know any better than to crash a dinner party, wash His feet with her tears and her hair, and break open an Alabaster jar of perfume an anoint His feetas an act of worship.

You kind of get the idea that God cares about outward appearance. As Mark Batterson says, God is looking for is people who are desperate enough to climb sycamore trees, desperate enough to cut holes in ceilings, desperate enough to push through crowds and yell at the top of their voices, and desperate enough to jump out of boats to get to him!

David says, “I will become even more undignified than this....” (2 Samuel 6:22)

One of the words for worship in Hebrew is hallal. It has a lot of meanings, but one means clamorously foolish. What that means is, if you aren’t willing to look foolish you can’t worship!

I mean worship, in a strictly human sense, is foolish isn’t it? We are singing to someone we can’t see! We are raising your hands to someone we can’t touch.

Have you ever seen someone singing, or even better, dancing in their car? You see their mouth moving, their hands tapping the steering column, or their body swaying. They look sort of foolish don’t they? Why? Because you can’t hear the music! There is an old proverb: “Those who hear not the music think the dancer is mad.” 

That’s what is happening in 2 Samuel 6.  David hears the music. Michal doesn’t. If we set our spiritual ears on heaven’s frequency and hear the music, it would cause us to sing and dance. We might even dance like David danced in 2 Samuel 6.

Foolish

I think 2 Samuel 6 provides for us one of the keys as to why God used David in miraculous ways. To set the backdrop, David has just attended his own coronation as the King of Israel. He led Israel into an arousing victory over the Philistines. And now he is leading them into one of the greatest spiritual revivals of their history...bringing the Ark of Covenant back to Jerusalem.

This is on the greatest days of his life! However, 2 Samuel 6:16 (NLT) says, “But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.” 

Let me give you an insight that I have gained in over thirty years of ministry and watching people grow excited about their relationship with the Lord. When you get excited about God don’t expect everyone else to be as enthusiastic about your excitement as you are! When you experience a personal revival, some people will be encouraged by your experience. But others will be convicted. And their conviction will often display itself with criticism. They will criticize you, your experience, and your enthusiasm.

Michal is a perfect example. 2 Samuel 6:20 says, “When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!”

Here's what is amazing to me about David. Even though he was the King, he was not afraid to look foolish. He disrobed (shed his royal robes) and danced before the Lord.

The royal robes represented David’s identity and security. But David recognized that identity and security can be found whether you wear kingly robes or servant clothes. And because of that, he wasn’t afraid of looking foolish! Verses 21-22 continue, “David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

Don't miss the phrase, “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.” The New Living Translation says, “Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!” David recognized one of the most important principles about worship...Worship is not about our personal comfort; it is about God's worthiness.