Minivans, Big Prayers

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of your week. Starting it off with a Browns victory, always helps! This past Sunday we continued our “Cruisin’ with Christ” series with a sermon entitled, “Minivans, Big Prayers.” It looks at the importance of praying for and with others. We learned some important lessons about pray from the minivan. Follow the link for the audio or read the text below. Be blessed!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/7u1c5sd05ku3xrq/Minivans%20Big%20Prayers.mp3

"Minivans, Big Prayers”
Brimfield Faith UMC / October 3, 2010
1 Timothy 2:1-6

THE MINIVAN

Last September, Michelle and I bought a Toyota Sienna Minivan. It is deep red, spacious, practical, and drives great. When we told our friends about our purchase, it was met with mixed results. “Oh, you bought a minivan…” was probably the most common response. See for many people our age buying a minivan is a cardinal sin. It is a sign that you are getting old. Uncool soccer moms drive minivans, not hip new parents. For our generation, the minivan became popular when we were kids. Many of our parents thought that they were the greatest thing ever. I remember my parents buying a Dodge Caravan in the last 1980’s. Now that our generation is beginning to have kids, the minivan reminds us of our parents. Not that that is a negative thing, but for many it makes them resistant to the minivan.
Michelle, being the pragmatist that she is, wanted to buy a van for its functionality. She said, “We have a 70 lbs dog and a child on the way. We need a minivan.” Being the smart husband that I am, I agreed. So instead of resisting the need to be hip, we bought the minivan because it made the most sense for us. We took into consideration the needs of our growing family and not just our super coolness.
Having driven a minivan for over a year, I have decided that minivans are misunderstood and underappreciated. Ultimately, I think a lot people resist the minivan purchase because it is recognition that your life is no longer your own. To drive a minivan is to take into account other people. The minivan wasn’t designed to be cool, hip or sporty. The minivan isn’t designed to optimize the driving experience. Two door sports cars were. Instead, the minivan is designed with the passenger in mind. The minivan is designed for its comfort and space, accessibility and ride.
We are in week three of our sermon series on prayer called, “Cruisin’ with Christ.” We are taking a look at the idea of prayer as the vehicle that transports us closer to God. As you have probably figured out by now, the vehicle that we are considering this week is the illustrious minivan. Last week, we talked about the pickup truck and the invitation of God’s pickup truck. As we live in a chaotic and stressful world, God invites us to dump our burdens and anxieties into his truck. When we dump our junk in, God’s junk we are then able to enjoy the ride through life with God. We can find rest and restoration.

THE CALL

The problem is that many of us struggle to dump our junk and continue to live in an overwhelmed state. We get lost in our own worlds of misery and are unable to see anything beyond ourselves. We get absorbed in self-pity and misery. We cannot see the suffering of others and we are unable to extend mercy or compassion. This leaves us unable to receive comfort as well. Yet, as we learn to ride in God’s pickup truck, we begin to see that others are in need of God’s mercy and grace. When we begin to realize the needs of others, I believe we become less resistant to that which the minivan represents. You don’t necessarily have to rush out and buy one, but you begin to acknowledge that part of your calling in life is to minister and care for the needs of others. Eventually, we are able to hear and respond to the call of the minivan. The call of the minivan is a call to pray for others.
We hear the call of the minivan expressed in 1 Timothy 2. Paul writes to his apprentice Timothy and he writes to us to pray for all people. Paul wants us to consider the needs of everyone, even those we might not like as we pray. To pray for others is called intercession. Intercession is a mark of a maturing faith in Christ. It is an ability to consider the needs of others and to pray on their behalf. Intercession can happen in our personal prayer lives or it can be done with the person in need.

LESSONS OF THE MINIVAN

I would challenge us to attempt to pray with people and not just for them. So often, people will share a prayer request and I will respond with, “I’ll make sure I pray for you.” There is nothing wrong with this response, except that frequently I forget to actually pray for the need. Instead, I try to offer to pray with people on the spot. I find this can be a powerful experience for all and it encourages people’s faith. Responding to the call of the minivan to pray for others might seem easy but for many it can be challenging. Therefore, I want to look at two lessons of the minivan that can aid us as we learn to pray for others.

#1. Pray with others in mind.
I don’t know about you, but I drive differently when I have passengers in my car than when I drive alone. When I am driving the minivan with people in it, I take their needs into consideration. I accelerate a tad slower. I take the turns easier. I brake smoother. I pay closer attention to the road. I ask them about the temperature. I ask them about the radio station and the volume. I want their ride to be as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
There is nothing worse than riding with a bad driver or a driver that doesn’t take his passengers’ needs into consideration. You’ve all rode with the drive who slams on the brakes, blares heavy metal music, or doesn’t roll up the windows on the freeway. Nobody wants to ride in that person’s car.
In the same way, we want to pray with other people’s needs in mind, not just our own. In the New Century Version, verse one reads, “I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him.” So often, when we pray with others with our own agendas in mind. We would like them to do this or do that. To act in a certain way or to change a certain behavior. We need to consider others needs before our own in our prayers.
I can tell you from experience there is nothing having someone pray for you and halfway through you think, “What are they praying about?” There is a country song on the radio right now by Jaron and the Long Road to Love called, “Pray for You.” It is a humorous example of how not to pray. [Let’s watch it now]

In Romans 12, we are called to be a people of love. We are called to not repay evil for evil but rather do what is right. In Romans 12:21 it says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” We lived this out in prayer by praying blessings and goodness over everyone. It will be God’s love that transforms hearts and situations. Therefore, if we want to see lasting change we must pray alignment with God’s love.

#2 Lesson: Pray with direction.
There is nothing worse that driving passengers to a destination and getting lost along the way. I remember my junior year of college a certain incident when I got lost with a carful of people. We were heading to a donut shop in Cleveland late one night. It was after our InterVarsity Christian Fellowship meeting and I some new friends in the car. On the way down, I decided to share my 20 year old wisdom and tell them how girls had no sense of direction. One of the freshman girls in the car with me, adamantly disagreed. While we made it to our destination without problem, I found myself aimlessly driving the streets of Cleveland lost on the way home. Lo and behold, that freshman knew how to get us home safely. Needless to say, I learned my lesson that night… several in fact. Occasionally, I am reminded of that lesson because four years later I married that freshman girl who got me home that night.
When we pray for others, it is important that we pray with clear direction. When we pray, we are pointing people towards God. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Living in a pluralistic society, we often forget or try to mineralize the exclusive claims made by Christianity. We need to remember the words of John 14:6 where Jesus says, ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”
Ultimately, we pray so people can be saved. There is a path and a direction to the God of the Scriptures. It is through the person of Jesus Christ. As the text says, he is our mediator. He died to give us direct access to God. God’s desire is for everyone to know him through his son Jesus Christ. There are not many ways up the mountain to God, but only one. That way is through Jesus Christ. Therefore, when we pray for and with people, we should always pray that they come to know the way home. That they know the way of Jesus Christ which leads to salvation and eternal life.

POWERFUL PRAYERS

Your prayers matter. They make a different. As we pray remember to pray with others needs in mind. To pray with direction. To pray with faith. To pray with boldness. Imagine a church where the people understand the power of intercession. Where we consider the needs of others before ourselves. The minivan reminds to transport others closer to God through prayer. People’s salvations are at stake. Whether it be your children, your parents, your friends, your neighbors, we need to pray that everyone discovers a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
As we conclude this morning, I would encourage you to list several people’s names on the back of your sheets. There should be people who are far from God. People that do not know Jesus Christ. People that do not attend worship regularly. If we are going to be a church that fulfills the vision and mission of God, then we need to be regularly praying for unchurched people. If we will become a praying, interceding people, we can transform this community for the kingdom of God.
Let’s pray.