Daily Dose of the Word of God - Beyond Sunday Ep. 79

Jeff Klein, Pastor of Outreach

Transcript

Jeff Klein 0:07  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose in the Word of God. It's Monday, March 10. This is Jeff Klein, reminding you that faith goes Beyond Sunday and into the week.

Jeff Klein  0:17  

Recently when my four kids were home they came to me late one night and said that they wanted to skate on the backyard ice rink and have a family hockey game. I looked at them cross eyed! I was comfortably watching ESPN. Why would I go out in the cold? But they persisted, and I gave in. You know why? Because I value spending time with them and we all love hockey. Their agreement also agreed with something I value. So I got off the couch.

Jeff Klein  0:42  

What if my kids wanted to go buy a bunch of stuff at Costco or go shopping? That wouldn't get me off the couch, even if they agreed. And as much as I love being with them, that request is not consistent with my values. This got me thinking about Prayer in Matthew when Jesus was speaking to his disciples about prayer. He said this, "again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven." Just like my kids agreement got me off the couch, our agreement for something the father values will get the father moving and off his couch. But moving for what? Well, Jesus goes on and tells his disciples about their agreement: "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven." In other words, our prayers have the power to lock things up, forbid things to happen on earth and they have the power to release and permit kingdom stuff to happen on earth instead.

Jeff Klein  1:37  

So the first question: what do we want to bind, forbid and lock up in our community, our homes, our nation and our lives? What do we want to release of the kingdom into the same places? Can we agree on these things? Can we go to the Father in agreement? Do our prayers line up with what's on God's heart and what he values? What kinds of prayers move God's heart and get him off the couch? Let's pray some radical stuff - that God would make ECRC a kingdom building community. That God would draw people around us to himself, that God would use us to make disciples of all nations.

Jeff Klein  2:10  

Let's pray. Father God, we often come to you with big lists for our prayers. Father God, I pray you'd help us to come to you with the things that are on your heart, on your mind. I pray that you help us to agree together and seek your hand, your face, so that we can see you move in agreement with us and do things in our world that are significant and meaningful. In your name we pray Jesus, amen.