Everybody Stay Calm! - New Life Christian Ministries - a non denominational church in Saxonburg, PA

Back to Basics

Everybody Stay Calm!

March 9, 2008 • By Dr. Chris Marshall

What’s the difference between a “genie” and God? That may seem to be a strange question to start our message on SUPPLICATION, but when we get to the aspect of prayer where we make our requests, our needs known to God, which is officially called SUPPLICATION in the Bible, sometimes we get confused about the goal. Is the goal of supplication for God to meet all our needs, wants and desires or is it for God to supply what we lack? That’s actually a trick question, because I looked up the meaning of the Greek word that gets translated petition, supplication, or telling God what we need in various English translations, and found out that the word means “to lack or be in need of.” As we’ve progressed through this Back to Basics series on prayer, concluding it today, we will have covered four primary aspects of prayer:

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving and;

Supplication

As you look down the list you see that it spells the word ACTS. Thus, when we pray we “ACTS.” That’s bad grammar, but it makes a good point—we ADORE God—praise Him for all He is. We CONFESS our sins to God—or say the same thing with God, about our sins—We agree that we’re sinners and must rely on the blood of Jesus for forgiveness. We THANK God, for all He’s done and provided, even when what happens isn’t what we want or like. Finally, we SUPPLICATE or PETITION God, that is we ASK God to meet our needs. When we do this for others instead of ourselves it’s called INTERCESSION. Thus, supplication includes asking God to supply what we lack or what others lack. Let’s go back to the original question:

What’s the difference between a “genie” and God? There are many differences: God actually exists,

while genies don’t. God is all powerful and unfettered in His power. Genies (which don’t actually exist, but if they did) exhibit great power, but are held by their lamps. The reason I asked the question, though, is that sometimes we view God as a genie rather than as God. In all the genie myths, the genies exist to grant wishes to their “masters.” Sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s three. Always it’s limited.

In real life God is the master, and we exist to serve Him. Supplication then is NOT finding out how to phrase our prayers in such a way, as to bind God to answer them. Supplication is NOT getting God to grant our wishes. Supplication is calling on God to supply our lack, our need. The primary Scripture for this morning is brief. It comes from Philippians 4:6-7. We’re going to read it in three different translations. As we’ll see the nuances of the translations help guide us to a better understanding of supplication. Please stand, and join me in reading God’s word aloud together:

⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NIV

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. NKJV

Let’s Pray……………………….Amen. (Please be seated.)

Let’s compare the first part of Philippians 4:6 in each of the translations—side by side:

⁶Don’t worry about anything

⁶Do not be anxious about anything,

⁶Be anxious for nothing

You can probably see where I got the title for this morning’s message: “Everybody Stay Calm.” The Apostle Paul, who wrote these words, calls us not to worry, not to be anxious about most things, right? Wrong! He calls us not to worry, not to be anxious about ANYTHING. NO THING. That’s because Paul believed that while God does exist and is more powerful than any being in existence, God loves us and cares about our needs. The reason Paul said, in effect, “Everybody stay calm,” is that God is in charge of everything—yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever. That means we don’t have to worry. But we’re human. We think, “What about a place to live? What about food? What about transportation? What about education? What about refrigeration? Okay, you get the point. We make a long list of the things we need, because we’re worried, anxious that we might not have enough. Paul says, “Don’t do that. God is big enough to meet all of our needs.” In fact, here’s how he put it. After he tells us not to worry, He says (and again let’s look at it in the three different translations):

instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Look at the screen and tell me what it is we’re supposed to pray about when it comes to our needs? EVERYTHING! When we’re tempted to worry, when we’re in the middle of a crisis, when it seems that everything has gone wrong that could possibly go wrong, Paul tells us to PRAY. Notice that the prayers are to be prayers of petition or supplication or telling God what we need, and we’re to offer them with THANKSGIVING, so SUPPLICATION and THANKSGIVING always go together! You say, Chris, I already know this. Do you? Do I? Something hit me really hard as I was preparing this message: God is the only one who knows what you and I truly need. Left to our own devices we’ll look at God as a genie and ask Him for everything we can imagine—the biggest, the best, the fastest. We’ll ask Him for perfect health. We’ll ask Him for “success.” After all, doesn’t the word say, “⁴Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 NIV? In fact, God’s word DOES say that. We just read it. So, is supplication asking God to give us the desires of our hearts? NO. When we take a verse out of context, that is when we rip it out of the Bible and quote it apart from its context in the Bible, we can create any belief system we want. Many cults are based on the Bible, by that I mean they use Scripture to validate their existence, but they pick and choose Scriptures that validate their existence rather than relying on the whole of God’s word.

I’m going to take us on a brief tangent, but it is fully related to this morning’s topic. Here’s the tangent: Does God want us to be healthy, wealthy and prosperous? Before you answer, I want you to base your response on the Bible—not just a verse here or there, but on an overall understanding of the “worldview” of the Bible. If God wants us to be healthy, wealthy and prosperous, then SUPPLICATION is asking God to provide health, wealth and prosperity in our lives. Let’s think about that together. If we had a genie, what would we ask for with our three wishes? The average American would ask for health, wealth and prosperity. If he or she was a typical Christian, one of the wishes may include curing cancer or disease, or solving world hunger. But in the end, most of us would think of providing abundantly for ourselves.

Supplication means to ask God to supply our lack, our need. What do you lack or need materially right now? I don’t mean what do you wish you had? I mean what do you lack in the way of food, clothing, transportation, refrigeration? Hmm… Could it be that the health, wealth and prosperity Gospel that’s being preached in many, many churches across America, and is now being “exported” to third world countries has it wrong? Does God want me to drive a Lambergini? Does He want me to wear $2,000 suits? Does He want me to live in a $5,000,000 house? Does He want me to pray for those things, believe that I’ll have them, and by my faith receive them? Let’s see. Jesus said that the whole Old Testament could be summed up with these two statements: “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39 paraphrase. He also said that all the Law of Moses and the Prophets hang on this action: “In everything do to others what you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12 paraphrase. My point is: My wearing a $2,000 suit is not a demonstration of loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, or loving my neighbor as myself. It’s not doing to others what I would have them do to me. Why? Because living that way necessitates my putting ME first. If, as Rick Warren contends in his great book, The Purpose Driven Life, It’s not about me, and it’s not about you, but it’s all about God, then when we pray—even when we pray a prayer of supplication—the goal is to seek God’s will, God’s desire, God’s best.

Here’s the thing God burned into my heart this week as I was preparing to prepare this message: I know what’s best for you. You don’t. Wow! Do you get that? God knows what’s best for you and me. We don’t. I might pray for healing when God’s desire is to mold and shape me through it. You say, “Chris, that’s sick. That means God enjoys your suffering.” Really? Listen to this: ⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV The Apostle Paul spoke those words after God gave Him a revelation of heaven. Paul saw heaven. Then to keep him from becoming conceited, he was given a “thorn in the flesh.” No one knows what it was. It may have been a physical ailment, an emotional struggle. No one knows. What we do know is that Paul prayed to God. The prayer was a prayer of supplication: God fill my lack, my need. I am not healthy. I am not whole. Take away this pain. God said, “No.” Three times God said, “No.” Finally, Paul got it. God could then give Paul a further explanation, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Here’s the question. Does God always want us to get better? Does He always want us to get rich? Does He always want us to have the best of everything? No. Why? Because God knows best. We don’t know what would have happened to Paul if God had taken away his “thorn in the flesh,” but God does. So, God didn’t do it.

This morning’s worship drama provides us with a powerful example of a childlike faith in action when it comes to supplication. Let’s turn our attention to Ashley’s Answer. [Worship Drama: Ashley’s Answer] Over the years I’ve asked God for so many things for me and others. When my Dad called me 18 years ago and told me that my Mom had experienced a massive stroke and that it “didn’t look good,” I prayed for a miracle. I’ll admit I was worried and anxious. I didn’t stay calm. I didn’t think to be thankful. But I believed that God could save my mom. I still believe that, but He didn’t. He didn’t intervene. She died. She was only 67 years old. The Bible says we’re supposed to get 70 or 80 years. But God said, “No.” He knows best. He knows what would have happened if my Mom lived, and the amazing reality she is now experiencing, because she didn’t. In my weakness, God provides the strength. In your weakness, He provides it, too.

The conclusion of today’s Scripture tells us that when we do stay calm, when we do take everything to God in prayer, petition and supplication with thanksgiving that this is the result:

⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. NLT

⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NIV

⁷and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. NKJV

When we ask God to supply our lack, to meet our needs, when we do that for everything—EVERYTHING—thanking God for all He provides, relying on Him instead of our own means, something incredible happens: the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding—guards or keeps our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. When we learn that—and that means when we live that—all worry, all anxiety drains from us. I’m not there all the time, but I’m there more and more of the time in my life, thanks to God’s presence in me by the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes all of us still want a genie instead of God. We want the quick, magical answer. We want the desires of our hearts—now. Our culture promotes that, and tells us that’s the norm, that’s the standard. Health, wealth and prosperity—whether it’s on a television commercial, or coming from a church platform—that’s what we’re supposed to have. Jesus told His followers this: I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, ³⁰will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. ³¹But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then (Mark 10:29-31) When will we receive the hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and property? Here and now? No. Here and now we’ll be persecuted for our faith. It’s in the world to come that we receive eternal life and all the rewards, the treasures that we’ve stored up there.

So, what does it mean to pray a prayer of supplication? It means that when your mother has a stroke, you pray for healing. It means that when the boss tells you that you don’t have a job anymore that you pray for work. It means that when your car breaks down, you pray for the funds to fix it or replace it. It means that when you’re tempted to worry and be anxious about anything, you stop, stay calm and call out to God to supply your lack. How will God respond? I don’t know. He’s God. But, I know that He WILL respond. What about Psalm 37:4 “⁴Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 NIV? Maybe, just maybe, the desires of our hearts change, when we delight ourselves in the LORD. Maybe when we realize that it IS all about Him, and put Him first, that whatever He gives us will be the desires of our hearts.

I’ve purposely focused on supplication as asking God to supply our lack and our needs, rather than as a means of getting what we want, because the one sees God as God, and the other sees God as a genie. In closing, though I want to say that throughout my life God HAS supplied all my needs according to His riches in glory. He has answered many of my prayers of supplication in ways that far exceeded what I asked. God is faithful. God is good. God knows what we need and when we delight ourselves in Him, He DOES give us the delights of our hearts. Those delights change, though, when He’s first. The real message of this morning’s message is: God knows best, so it’s best for us to put Him first. Here’s this morning’s challenge, which is another way of saying that: TODAY’S CHALLENGE: I will ask God to meet all my needs, trusting that He WILL, and I will stay calm, because I know that He knows best. Would you say that with me: TODAY’S CHALLENGE: I will ask God to meet all my needs, trusting that He WILL, and I will stay calm, because I know that He knows best. Okay. If we take the time day-by-day for:

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

We’ll be healthy—healthy SPIRITUALLY, and if God desires, healthy in body as well, and healthy things grow. The key is for us to go to God in prayer remembering that His desire is to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine for us. When we make our needs know to the Lord, He already knows about them. We bring them to Him, because we know that, because we recognize that He is Master in our lives, and that He is plotting to do us good—all the days of our lives and for eternity. Prayer is an amazing gift from God, because in it He invites us to come to Him, to converse with Him, to participate in His work in the world and to understand that NOTHING happens in this life or the next that is beyond His knowledge or concern. So if you ever think you’d like to have a genie, remember that God is a way better option, AND He’s real! Let’s stand. Let’s pray……….Amen.