Wednesday, September 17, 2014
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Well, I taught my boys some baseball, some football, some manners, some English, some history. Then along came chemistry. Oh, I wanted to help one of my sons who was really struggling with it, but my desire wasn't enough. See, chemistry wasn't my thing. As my wife says whenever one of our sons does something crazy, "The apple falls not far from the tree." I don't know why she doesn't say that when they do something good. Well, that was true of chemistry. Very early on I could see that I was at the limit of my ability to help my son. So I called Chuck. Now, there's a boy who understood chemistry. We discussed that academically redemptive word "tutor". He did it and our son survived the "acid" test of chemistry.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Counting on Reinforcements."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 25:21 from the life of Isaac. Here's a man with a need that he cannot meet, and a problem he cannot solve. Here's what it says, "Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife, Rebekah, became pregnant." This is a very tender scene. Isaac is carrying his wife into the presence of God through prayer. And he says, "Lord, I'm bringing her to You to meet a need I cannot meet; to change something I cannot change."
It's most likely that someone you love has a need right now that you can't meet. For some reason the need or the person is beyond your reach. Maybe you can't meet the need because you're too far away, or you don't have the resources, or they're really not welcoming it. Maybe you need to have a word from God, and it's someone you can't see. Maybe they don't even know that what they're doing is wrong.
It's time to pull an Isaac. Let's put your name and their name in this verse. Here's your name. "_______ prayed for _______ (put their name in there), because (and you can put their need in there) something that they can't do; you can't do." So you are praying for whoever because of the need that they cannot meet.
The Bible says when Isaac did that the Lord answered that prayer and that's all we need to know. The Lord answered his prayer specifically for someone he loved. I know He'd love to do that for you. I mean, this is aggressive prayer. It's prevailing prayer. It's focused on this loved one. It's the most powerful action you can take on behalf of the person you love. It is fighting for them on your knees.
So you pray for the ability to see what God sees in them and in their situation. Pray that God will show you any way that you might be able to enter into the problem and help. Pray for a change of heart. Pray for the defeat of anything Satan's trying to do, for the miracle touch they need, for the victory of God's agenda in their life. But pray!
If we're not depending on God to do it through prayer, you know what we're going to do? We're going to either push too hard or we're going to give up too soon. If you push the person, you'll talk to them about the issue more than you've talked to God about it. And you'll probably either polarize the situation or postpone them ever dealing with it.
David Bryant says, "Prayer is love at war." It certainly ought to be. When you're coming to the living God on behalf of someone you love, remember praying is the most powerful, most aggressive action you can take on behalf of a loved one you know.
It turned out that outside help was the deciding factor for my son who was having a pretty tough time with chemistry. I wanted to help, but the need was beyond me. But not beyond the resources of the reinforcement I called in.
So, you are at the edge of you, trying to help or trying to change someone you care about. You can't talk it done, you can't nag it done, you can't plan it done, you can't manipulate it done, you can't worry it done. But you can pray it done. Turn up the prayer heat beginning today. If you're already crying out to God and depending totally on Him to do it, then claim Galatians 6:9, "Be not weary in well doing. For in due season you will reap if you do not faint."
We're probably talking about a miracle you need and only God does miracles. So storm the gates of heaven on behalf of someone you love and you expect a miracle.