SERMON NOTES
5/24/2020
“WHEN YOU PRAY, GOD LISTENS”
RICK McCOMB
Good morning. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here today delivering God’s message. Let us pray:
“Father God, be with us today as we worship you as we praise you and give you all the glory for things you have dome, past, present and future. We ask that you bless this simple church in the mountains, it’s congregation, it’s leadership, and all those who work so hard to keep it going. Please bless the reading of your Word and help us to always spread your Word to others and to implement it in our personal lives. And Father we would ask you today that you would bless America through it’s many struggles. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
SERMON: As we get going today, I would like to share a story with you. A story of a church in Las Vegas that my parents attended. They actually helped build it and raise a big congregation there. They had many potlucks, they had potlucks all the time it seemed like. My wife Lee nd I would try to go to as many of them as we could to spend time with my mom and dad. And at one of these potlucks, and it was like a church potluck anywhere, the food was plentiful and delicious, and the dessert table, well, it was plentiful and delicious as well. And at this one potluck the Pastor got up and he spoke a little bit about blessings and how blessed we were and that we needed to appreciate that in our lives so much. And then he asked if there were any other people that would like to share their blessings. And a couple of people got up and shared their blessings. Then a men in the back of the room held up a Bible. And he said. “You all know what this is.” It was a Bible in a camouflaged cover. A Service Bible that belonged to his nephew who was a young Lieutenant in the Army in charge of a rifle platoon headed for Iraq. It was tough times and the young Lieutenant knew that when he got there that there would be quite a bit of down time involved and that he would endevour to make the best use of that time he could be reading the Bible. That was his goal, reading the Bible. So his time came for them to be deployed and they got to Iraq and were assigned to an outpost in the northern part of Iraq were the fighting was particularly vicious. And the young lieutenant began reading his Bible. Every chance he got, when he wasn’t fighting, he was reading, reading that Bible all the time. Their original deployment was only supposed to last 6 months. So when 6 months came the orders came for them to be redeployed back to the United States. And they couldn’t believe it that the Army could have possibly got this right. After all it was their chance to go home. And they went out and celebrated it was just so wonderful, they couldn’t believe it, and they celebrated probably a little too hard, and hurt themselves a little bit. But, while they were still recovering another set of orders came through cancelling those orders. Their orders to redeploy back to the United States had been rescinded. They went from the highest high to the lowest low in just a matter of reading that page. And the young Lieutenant kept reading his Bible the whole time. By now he’d become pretty well-known around the outfit as the guy who reads the Bible and there were other people that came to read with him. And they started their own study group and whenever they weren’t fighting they were reading that Bible. Nine months into their deployment came and again they received orders to redeploy and again they celebrated, however not quite as much as before. And again those orders we’re rescinded, and they did not get to go home. And the young Lieutenant kept reading his Bible and kept encouraging those other folks to read and to study the Bible as well. When it came to one year, they had spent one year in combat orders came like they had seen before to redeploy and they had learned to be cautious, combat had made them very cautious people. And so they didn’t celebrate this time, they waited for the other foot to fall. And fall it did. The orders were again cancelled. This time they didn’t feel that really high-low thing because they kind of settled in with the whole experience. And the young Lieutenant continued to read the Bible. After about 14 months in their combat missions the young Lieutenant finally turned the last page. He had finished reading the Bible. He closed the book and put it in his ready pack, the pack that they all carry everywhere they go so that he would have it when he needed it. The rest of the guys in the platoon threw a party for him to celebrate his achievement and he encouraged them to be faithful, to pray, because when you pray God hears you. And it wasn’t more than 10 days later that another set of orders fell on their doorstep. These were orders to redeploy back to the United States. And being cautious people that they were they did not celebrate. As a matter of fact they did not celebrate until they got on the plane to go home. Then they relaxed, they high-fived and they joked. And it was miraculous. And another thing that makes this so miraculous was that all of those men in that platoon that went home were the original men that went to Iraq 14 months earlier. They all survived, uninjured, unwounded and alive. Now a lot of people would say that that is a coincidence, but I would say to you that no, that is not a coincidence. That is God’s hand. God had his hand on that. Jesus prayed and interceded and the Holy Spirit that resided in the heart of the young Lieutenant helped him to pray, helped to pray and God created a miracle. This miracle was just amazing. When I heard the story I couldn’t believe it, but I did believe it because God is capable of almost everything in anything.
Miracles are all around us all the time. God creates miracles in our lives every day, every day they are there. But one thing I’ve noticed that if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you have not been baptized, it’s hard for you to see those miracles. It’s easy for you to write them off as coincidence.
I myself have had the fortune of being baptized twice. The first time I was baptized I was 12 years old. I wasn’t being baptized because of any religious epiphany or anything like that. I was being baptized because that was what was expected of me and my family. However the second time was different. The second time was just a few years ago at Hume Lake. It was a beautiful day, it was warm the breeze was light, the water was cool, it was just an unbelievable day. My wife and I were both baptized there together by Pastor Rod and Deacon Bruno. And as they lowered me down into the water I looked up through the water and I could see that something was changing. I was aware that something was changing. And when they raised me out of the water and the water shed from my face, I knew the day was different. I knew what it meant to be saved, and I knew who my Savior was. I just couldn’t hardly believe it, but Christ is there for all of us and I knew how many miracles he had performed in my life, and I knew how many times he had saved me to bring me to that moment, so that I could be saved. Praise the Lord!
Speaking of each generations obligations, every generation of soldiers that comes along since our Revolutionary War has had to deal with their own specific challenges. Every generation has their war, every generation has their strife, their conflict, their necessity to help in emergencies, their natural nature, and it’s a credit to each generation that there are those that hear the call to arms, that are willing to mount the battlement keep the watch, keep the watch for all of us, to keep us safe.
On this Memorial weekend we honor those who have fallen while in service to our armed forces, and we honor those who were left behind. Those men that fell, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “May the last full measure of devotion for their country, the last full measure of devotion to their country.” Please join me in a moment of silence for those soldiers that have given their life, who have perished. (Prayer) All powerful God, we honor today those men and women, our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers, brothers, sisters and mothers, who have laid down their lives for our country. Whether they were wary or emboldened, quiet or defiant, vulnerable or ready when you called them home, their sacrifice is too humbling for words except these uttered in prayer. Loving Lord, bless them forever in your eternal peace. Cherish their spirit, honor their commitment and send them our love. And we will never forget the source, the service they gave. Amen.
Soldiers in prayer often go together. Tough times in battle bring out prayers for survival and when we pray God listens. People come to God during hard times. During the pandemic people have been coming to God in numbers that we have not seen in a long time. When you pray, God listens. Praise the Lord! Prayer can access to God, it can establish that intimate relationship that we both seek. We need to go to God in private prayer, speak to him as you would a loving, kind, compassionate and patient father. Tell Him of your challenges, what your needs are, what your wants are and about the general condition of your life. God wants to hear these things, and God will always listen to your prayers. God wants to hear how you are. And God will always grant your prayers but sometimes not in the way you would want, but in His time for His purpose. Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
If sometimes you have difficulty in prayer knowing what your thoughts are but finding it difficult to express those in words remember that God knows what you need and what you pray for even before you even utter it. The Holy Spirit that lives in your heart since you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior will always intercede when you have difficulty. Turn in your Bibles and read Matthew 6:9-13. Here Jesus is delivering His Sermon on the Mount and His disciples want to pray to God as well and they are having difficulty and are asking Jesus for instruction. And Jesus says, “ that when you pray thou shall not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and standing on the corners in the streets that they be seen by others. Verily I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray use not vain repetitions as others do for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not like them, for your Father knows what you need before you even ask Him. And after this manner therefore pray. And I ask that you all join me in the Lord’s Prayer. (Recite the Lord’s Prayer). This simple prayer which came to be known as The Lord’s Prayer was delivered by Jesus to the disciples over 2000 years ago and has often been referred to as the summary of the whole Gospel. It brings about a sense of solidarity in knowing that Christians around the globe are praying this prayer together. And the words in this prayer always work to unite us. Teach this simple prayer to others, to your children, its encumbered upon us as Christians to pass these things on. Teach our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren what the Bible is all about. Teach them who Jesus was, why He died and why He rose to be with us again and why He will come again. Teach them the stories of the Bible. Spend time with them in prayer. Pass along the Truth, the Truth that will set them free. The Lord’s Prayer could also be looked upon as an outline for prayer. With 6 simple steps 1) Address God as the rightful place as the Father; 2) worship and praise God for who He is and all that He has done; 3) acknowledge that it is God’s will and plans that are in control and not ours; 4) ask God for what we need; 5) confess our sins and repent; 6) and request protection and help in overcoming sin and Satan’s attacks on us. 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men and that man is Christ Jesus.” Numbers 6:25, “May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.”
I want to thank you all for being here today. God Bless America and God Bless each and every one of you.
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