July 29, 2010

You may, or may not, have noticed that you didn't receive a "choir devotion" this last week. That's because there wasn't one. Well, there was one, it just never made its way from my "chicken-scratch" notes to my computer to your computer. For a number of reasons my computer access was limited last week, but the predominant reason was the fact that I was with my family on two different "getaways." During these trips we traveled over a thousand miles of Illinois and Wisconsin roadway and we probably saw over a thousand different billboards along the side of the road. One particular series of billboards caught my eye. Maybe you have seen them too. Here are some examples:

- a picture of Michael J. Fox - the word optimism - the phrase "Determined to outfox Parkinson's" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"

- a picture of Fred Rogers - the word friendship - the phrase "Won't you be my neighbor?" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"

- a picture of Ben Franklin - the word ingenuity - the phrase "Go fly a kite" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"

- a picture of Shrek - the words believe in yourself - the phrase "Ogre achiever" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"


You get the picture (and the words and phrases too).

Our Old Testament lesson for this upcoming Sunday is the account of Abraham "looking not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," (Philippians 2:4), as he was having a conversation with God regarding the immediate future for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham prayed and then he prayed again and then he prayed again and then he prayed again and then he prayed again and then he prayed again. If you count - that's six separate times he prayed about the same thing. "Then Abraham spoke up again..." (Genesis 18:27a) You could call that kind of praying persistent.

By now your eyes may have found the picture below of the familiar figure from American history - another Abraham - Abraham Lincoln. I saw the billboard pictured below on the drive home this past Sunday. Abraham Lincoln failed a number of different times that he ran for various state and federal offices, but by being persistent, he ended up changing the course of America forever. We would have to tweak the billboard a little bit, (and I suppose we would have a problem in finding a picture of the Abraham from Genesis) but Abraham, and his prayer style that we find in Genesis 18, could be the "poster boy" for persistent prayer - persistent prayer that changed the course of Sodom and Gomorrah history forever - at least for Lot.

Instead of "Failed, failed, failed," our Abraham billboard would have the phrase, "succeeded, succeeded, succeeded." When God answers our prayers by giving us what we ask for, it is of course appropriate to appreciate the blessing and praise and thank him for it, but then do we just settle? Have you ever tried to push the envelope with prayer and ask for even more? After all, we have a God who wants to graciously give us ALL things that work out for our good! (Romans 8:32 and Romans 8:28) In our Gospel Lesson for this upcoming Sunday is the familiar passage, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9) I was told once that something is lost in the NIV translation of this passage, it really could read, "keep on asking... keep on seeking... keep on knocking..." Abraham in his prayer doesn't settle - he "keeps on" as he is persistent in his prayers and lets God decide how far the envelope can be pushed. Something that Abraham clearly kept in mind is that our God is Omnipotent and he can take what we ask for and do more than we can even imagine with our requests. Paul told the Ephesian Christians in his letter to them that, "[Our God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20a) Let's remember to pray with persistence, knowing that when we keep on asking and when it's God's will, we will receive more than we can even imagine. Then we can share that value of a persistent prayer life with others who are watching us. Let's pray with the persistence of Abraham and then "Pass It On."