Tuesday, November 21, 2006
One of our common send-offs to people is, "Hey, keep in touch!" Well, today we can do that better than ever. Just take telephones, for example. We've got them everywhere - for better or worse. Many of us have phones in several rooms at home or wireless phones so we can take a call or make a call anywhere from the backyard to the bathroom. When I get on the plane, there's a phone in front of me. And, of course, with cell phones we can be in contact with people, and they with us, virtually anywhere. Take a businessperson or an investor, for example. He or she can be in contact from home, in their car, at their office, or as they're walking into the grocery store. Actually, one of the secrets of successful people is doing a good job of keeping in touch.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Out of Touch."
One of God's great success stories in the Old Testament is a man named Nehemiah, who conceived, organized and directed the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and gates in 52 days! He never got a beeper message or an email saying, "Call your office," but he was never out of touch. He's a fantastic model of how our success depends on how good a job we do of keeping in touch with heaven.
Nehemiah did it everywhere! For example, when he heard the bad news about the need in Jerusalem, he was in his room. And Nehemiah 1:4 says, "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." First response to bad news: go right to God. So, he stays in touch when he's at home.
Then, in our word for today from the Word of God, he's at "work." He works in the throne room of the King of Persia. In Nehemiah 2:4 it says, "The king said to me, 'What is it you want?' Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king." He's about to ask the king's help in rebuilding his city. It's a pressure moment in front of the most powerful man in the land, but even there in a tense moment at work, Nehemiah stays in touch with heaven so he can get the right answer.
Later, Nehemiah is in the middle of the project and their enemies threaten to shut them down. But in the middle of a major project, Nehemiah says, "Hear us, O our God. Turn their insults back on their own heads." ( Nehemiah 4:4) Again, stay in touch with your God wherever you are. Then, when the opposition is closing in, it says, "They all plotted together ... but we prayed to our God." (4:8-9)
Here's the life principle: make prayer a lifestyle, not a compartment. It's called "acknowledging the Lord in all your ways" ( Proverbs 3:6) - noticing the Lord's presence all through your day. Getting ready in the morning, traveling to work or school, in the house, your car, at your workplace, at a restaurant, a meeting, or as you exercise - getting in touch with your Lord!
The tragedy is that we tend to put God in this prayer compartment. We acknowledge His presence maybe a couple of times a day. We have our little prayer time in the morning, have a little prayer time at night, or occasionally say thanks before a meal. Then, we live the really important parts of our day ignoring Him. But noticing Jesus throughout your day, consciously getting in touch with Him, through all of it - even it's only for a moment - well, that will make all the difference in how you handle things.
We live in a world that's wired for constant communication because we understand that success depends on staying in touch. But the "Office" that you most need to stay in touch with is actually a Throne Room - the one from which the entire universe is governed. Jesus said, "I am with you always." Your success depends on you staying in touch.