May the word of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
In the name of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Please, be seated.
We will face a lot of challenges and pain in our life. Sometimes, we will have to struggle, and the only way to move through it is to pray.
We have now come to the season of Lent, after the season of Epiphany. The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. This past Ash Wednesday, from 6:30 in the morning until 8:30 I was at a train station in Bridgeport with another Methodist pastor, we had a big sign saying “Ashes to go”. During those two hours, we placed ash on the foreheads of 30 people who presented before us by saying, my brother or sister, remember, you are dust and to dust, you shall return. The season of Lent is a season where we think of who we are. This season gives us the sense to humble ourselves and love one another more than ever. We are dust, and to dust, we shall return.
At this point, I remember an opening statement of Queen Elizabeth one year before she died, while she was sitting beside a great picture of her husband, the late prince Philip; she said with emotion, “none of us live forever.”
I imagine that she might think about that statement of Ash Wednesday, “we are dust, and to dust, we shall return.”
Furthermore, the season of Lent stimulates us to let go and let God; let God be God, and more importantly let the Word of God penetrate our life allowing us to know who we are, where we come from, where we must go, and what path we must take in life from now.
The other day, someone asked me a question: Fr Jean, why do I pray day and night, and I still have problems in life, I still have pain, I still face moments of darkness, and I cannot sleep even when I take medication.
I responded, my friend, prayer does not always take away the pain, prayer gives you the ability to handle the pain. Prayer doesn’t always take you out of the problem, prayer helps you to pass through the problem. It does not prevent you from facing the darkness, but it teaches you how to use the darkness as a tool to grow emotionally and spiritually.
Jesus was leading a life of prayer during his entire ministry on earth, and prayer did not prevent him from facing arrest, humiliation, all types of suffering, and even death on the cross.
Prayer is a smart choice that you make to let the Spirit of God fall fresh on you. Prayer is a smart choice that you make to let the Spirit of God melt you, mold you, and fill you so that you may overcome all tribulation, calamity, and suffering.
Prayer is a smart choice that you make to let the spirit of God dwell in your heart, mind, and soul.
Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in prayer, he could not skip the temptation in the wilderness.
The temptation is a test showing that Jesus was the Son of God.
The temptation is a test showing that Jesus was able to choose God’s way and not the devil’s way.
Pay attention to that, after fasting for 40 days, Jesus chose not to use his divine power to satisfy his desire for food. He chose not to use his divine power to change the stones into bread as the devil suggested. Jesus waited on God to provide for his needs.
Again, Jesus decided to follow God’s way and not the devil’s way.
To pass through the temptation, and overcome it, be strong in the Lord, through prayer.
We read in the book of Genesis this morning that God put Adam and Eve in the garden to test them. – God wanted to see whether they would obey him. We, too, will be tested, because God wants to see whether we would obey him.
To pass the test, to pass through any temptation, the key is to pray all the time, pray without ceasing, said Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians.
On the first Sunday of Lent, be strong in the Lord, through ongoing prayer.
Remember Jesus was tempted when he was tired, alone, hungry, and most vulnerable. The devil will do the same thing, he will tempt us when we are weak, alone, hungry, when we are under physical and emotional stress, when we are confused by big decisions, and when we are faced with uncertainty.
Do you remember a time you had a difficult experience and you asked the question, why did God allow me to go through this thing?
Does God not care about me anymore? Does he get far away from me? Why me? God, say something now?
To be honest, we have all felt a little something like this.
As we are in the season of Lent, the season of prayer, I want you to know that for those of you who want to lead an easy life all the time, it seems that you have made the wrong choice.
Keep in mind, prayer will calm you in the midst of the storm, but it can’t take you out of the storm.
Prayer will give you the ability to handle the pain, but it can not take you out of the pain.
Prayer teaches you how to use suffering as a tool to grow spiritually, but it cannot prevent you from facing any suffering, knowing whether you live or die, you are the possession of God.
In the second chapter of the book of Genesis, God formed dust from the earth into a human being and he blew into his face a breath of life, and the human being became a living soul. And God reminds all of us in Genesis chapter 3: 19, we are dust, and to dust, we shall return. This is an absolute truth. I believe Queen Elizabeth discovered that truth when she said, “ None of us lives forever.”
Remember, prayer did not prevent Jesus from facing arrest, humiliation, all types of suffering, and even death on the cross, but it empowered him to pass through all of them victoriously, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven to prepare a place for each of us, and he will come to get all of us to spend eternity with him. In the midst of all tribulation, calamity, and suffering, be strong in the Lord, put everything in his hands, without ceasing, and pray and pray.
May it be so. Amen
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