As I was studying Matthew 26, I felt like the Lord was highlighting 2 important aspects of Patient Endurance. The context and setting of this chapter is dark and dreary. It is the moments leading up to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is the Last Supper and over and over again, Jesus is telling his disciples that his life would be forfeit and that there is a traitor amongst them.
In the midst of this great challenge, what did Jesus and his disciples do?
Response 1: Worship
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Matthew 26:30
Worship was a direct response to the heaviness that surrounded them. Worship was used to push back the forces of darkness, and it was used as a spiritual war time act. Here at LifeSpring, we need to begin to treat Worship as such.
I absolutely love playing basketball with Justus here at church. I goof around, I let him win, I go easy on him! We are playing for recreation and just going easy on each other. During the week, however, Justus plays in a league where they keep score and are trying to win. I watched as Justus was playing for “fun”, playing recreationally. He would let the other team shoot the ball, he wouldn’t try to steal it, he was going easy on them! There is big difference between recreation and competition. In the same way, there is a big difference in worship when it is for recreation or as a wartime act. If we treat worship as recreation, I say let us open a karaoke bar. But if we treat worship as warfare, then let us do so with diligence.
Worship is not just something we do before a message, it is a wartime act.
Response 2: Prayer
…He (Jesus) said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” … Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, … He went away a second time and prayed, … once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Matthew 26:36-45
Jesus went to prayer over and over again. In this passage alone, Jesus went to God with the same prayer. In the scariest and most challenging moment in Jesus’ life, he responded in prayer.
It is in prayer – in His presence – we can find peace even if we are not in peace with the people or situations we find ourselves in.
I remember having a $12,000 problem. In my quiet time I could see Jesus a little further ahead looking at something. I called out to Jesus, telling him that “I have a $12,000 problem! Please come help me, guide me, show me what to do! I have a big problem over here!” But Jesus kept saying, “come see what I am doing.” I begged Jesus, “please come solve my problem.” He finally turned to look at what I was looking at and simply responded with, “what problem?”. The King of Kings, who uses gold as concrete, saw my $12,000 problem, but in the hands of the creator of the universe, there was no problem. It was not a problem to my Father in Heaven, so it needn’t be a problem to me.
As I opened my eyes and ended my prayer, I saw that my $12,000 problem was still there. Nothing changed on the outside, but everything changed on the inside. The $12,000 needed to be dealt with, but it was no longer a “problem”.
Prayer Box
As I was planning for 2024 – doing the budgets, planning our family days, doing the schedule, building staff plans, creating goals – the Lord stopped me and impressed on my heart that“the greatest gift you can give to the LifeSpring Family is prayer.”
That conviction has led to every name written on a piece of paper beside my desk where I place my hand on to pray, so if you feel the Holy Spirit coming on you at one point in the day, you are welcome!
The greatest gift the Pastoral Team can give the LifeSpring family is: prayer.
The greatest gift the LifeSpring family can give the world is: prayer.
Every Sunday, we will place a prayer box at the front beside the tithes and offerings. There will be pen and paper available, and if there are any prayers that come to mind and heart, please, write it down and put it in the box. I will commit to praying for everything in that box.
Jesus responded to one of the most challenging parts of life with Worship & Prayer. I believe at Lifespring, it would be wise for us to learn to respond in the same way.