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    Oct 21, 2018

    Revealed In Prayer

    Revealed In Prayer

    Passage: 2 Corinthians 9:10-15

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Category: Stewardship

    Prayer – listening, attentive prayer – is a way of opening to God so that we truly allow God to speak in and and to us

    I loved the way Glen began his testimony last week by saying that when he was young, and he implied that he wasn’t very mature in his faith, he thought that what he had was because he had earned it all and it was all his.  His father-in-law taught him lovingly, saying that he didn’t pray enough.

    Harry Dinsmore was a man of prayer who understood that prayer was much more than asking – prayer shaped his life with God.  For Harry, prayer opened him to allow God to move him closer to that path I keep talking about – to move him deeper into his love for God and to make his entire life an offering.

    As I said to the children this morning, we often talk about prayer as something we do to tell God what we want.  We give God the list – do this for me or for my family and maybe even for the world. Then we say amen as though that’s the end of the conversation.  And we wait for God to do the things we’ve asked for.

    Prayer is so much more than that!  Prayer – listening, attentive prayer – is a way of opening to God so that we truly allow God to speak in and and to us – to shape us as our earlier song said.  Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. Without the melting and molding, it’s very difficult for God to fill or use us.

    Your Finance Team has been reading a book together.  It is entitled Bounty, and  I'd like to read a paragraph from the Chapter "Invite God into the Mix."

    If gratitude reminds us of our blessings and their ultimate source, prayer is our willingness to allow those resources to be used by God.  In fact, we (the authors) believe willingness is the secret to spiritual growth and the key to truly bountiful, generous giving.  Unfortunately, in our culture, people are more likely to project an attitude of self-accomplishment than cite divine providence, and this carries over into the church.  It’s easy to believe that good fortune is of our own doing rather than a result of God’s blessings.

    This past week, we focused on gratitude - remembering to be grateful for our blessings.  In worship last week we put leaves of gratitude on our trees in the sanctuary. Today I want to invite you to go deeper -- to invite God into your gratitude and open your heart to God's direction -- to ask "God, what would you have me do?"

    Ultimately, this worship series is about stewardship, and as usual, it will culminate in bringing a commitment to God as we come to the Table of the Lord next Sunday.  

    But I am hoping that every one of us will find in these 3 Sundays that stewardship is not about money.  Stewardship is about allowing God to guide in every aspect of our lives – to melt us, mold us, fill us, and use us.

    Of course the problem is that God gave us freedom and free will, and we don’t always like for God to take charge!  Now that’s the truth right there! Right?

    So, today we are going to add yellow leaves to our trees.  And these leaves are for the prayers of our hearts.  As we sing and as we listen to Randy share his witness, open your hearts to God’s urging and write a word or phrase or a whole prayer – God, what would you have me to do?