Sermon Tone Analysis
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By Pastor Glenn Pease
Bernie May, the United States Division Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, for many years tells of his conflict with other Christians in a major book publishing deal.
Chet Bitterman was shot to death by a terrorist group in Columbia, because they wanted the Bible translation he was doing to be stopped.
Steve Ester wrote the book Called To Die about this 20th century martyr.
40,000 copies were ordered from Zondervan.
Everything was going great until Christians in Columbia saw the jacket that was to cover the book.
They sent an urgent message to Bernie that the language made the book more exciting to American buyers, but it could provoke the terrorist down there to more violence.
Murders and bombings could be the result.
Bernie got on the phone to Zondervan and said the wording had to be changed.
The editor said it was impossible for the jackets were printed and scheduled to be bound the next day.
And argument developed over rights.
The editor insisted on his right to print the cover, and Bernie insisted on his right to protect the people who could be hurt.
They were unable to resolve their differences, and so they agreed to let the president of Zondervan hear their problem and decide.
That night Bernie could not sleep, for he hated conflict with other Christians.
The next morning the president of Zondervan called and said he understood his problem and would scrap the jacket and start over.
He thanked him and hung up, and sat there amazed.
A major conflict had been settled.
The phone rang again.
It was Cora Frederick a multiple sclerosis victim confined to a wheel chair.
She said she woke at 5 A. M. and felt a need to pray for him.
She had been praying intensely for hours, and then she felt a sense a praise that the crisis had passed.
Bernie could hardly believe his ears.
He told her of the impossible situation that had just been resolved.
Cora laughed and said, “Before I came down with M S I never had time to pray.
Now God has called me into this ministry of intercession.
I’m just thankful I can have a place in the ministry.”
This true story illustrates so perfectly our theme, for we see here the conflict between seeking the power of busyness and the power of prayer.
The Christian editor of a major Christian publishing company was seeking the power of busyness.
He had a job to do to make money for his company, and he was not going to waste time and resources because of some supposed fear.
His busyness blinded him to the more vital concerns of the lives and security of other Christians.
Cora was in the same boat, and she was too busy to pray until her ability to be busy had been taken away.
Then she had to learn of the power of prayer.
God used her prayer power to do what busyness could not do, and the story had a happy ending.
This conflict between busyness and prayer power is one that every Christian faces.
Dr. James Denison, pastor of First Baptist Church of Midland, Texas wrote this prayer that deals with the conflict between busyness and prayer.
“Lord, forgive me-I’ve failed you again.
Some believers wouldn’t consider it a failure, but I know better.
It’s not prayerlessness, nor evil thoughts or vain imagination.
No, I’ve failed you in a much more subtle way.
I’ve become the ugliest of all things-a busy person.
It’s okay for a while.
The long hours, the constant pressure-
Administration, decision-making, unrealistic expectations, relentless demands..
I loved what I was doing.
I was committed, creative, energetic...
Like a quick-change artist I switched hats, changed roles,
Tried to be all things to all people.
There was not time for solitude or day dreaming.
Too many deadlines had to be met.
It was exciting and demanding.
I was out to change the world.
But there was not rhythm in my life.
No balance between work and rest, worship and play.
Now I’m not just a busy man.
I’m an angry man, too.
I’m tempted to resent the people I love and to dread
The responsibilities I’m committed to.
Forgive me, Lord, for working too hard and playing too little.
Let me become a child again, at least for a time each day.
Help me, Lord, for I am a busy person.”
Our culture equates busyness and success, and so Christians feel they need to be busy to be successful.
The problem is that too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing.
Jesus was busy and under enormous pressure to minister to the needs of the crowds that came to Him continually.
He had a hard time getting away from the pressure, and was sometimes so totally exhausted that He fell asleep, even when in a boat in a dangerous storm.
But Jesus fought for balance.
He escaped to commune with His heavenly Father early in the morning.
He made a time for the quiet and reflective side of life.
There are 40 times in the Gospels where His prayer life is mentioned.
The disciples knew He had a power in prayer that they did not have, and that is why they asked Him to teach them to pray.
Jesus rebuked Martha for being too one sided and just being busy, busy, busy.
He commended Mary for her balance in learning to let go of the active side of life, and just quietly reflecting, listening, and growing in the inner life.
The Christ like life is the balance life where the power of busyness is balanced out by the power of prayer.
Busyness is what you can do for God, and that is good, but prayer gets you involved in what God can do for you, and that is better.
In our text Paul ends this marvelous letter to the Ephesians with a focus on the need to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
We need the Lord’s power because we are fighting battles of spiritual warfare, and the weapons of the flesh will not be effective.
If all you have going for you is the busyness of the flesh, you will suffer many defeats and celebrate few victories, for your armory lacks the fire power needed to overcome the forces of evil.
You need to put on the whole armor of God, and after Paul lists this armor he concluded in verse 18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Then Paul goes on in the next two verses seeking for personal prayer support.
“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”
Paul, the great Apostle, every busy in reaching the world for Christ in these few verses reveals where his power lies.
He is not filled with any illusion that his success is due to his busyness, but rather that every victory he has is due to the power of prayer.
Twice he prays that he will be fearless in his preaching the Gospel.
It is clear that Paul had the same problem we all have, which is the fear of man.
We do not witness for fear people will think we are some kind of religious fanatic.
We fear to be rejected and ridiculed.
We fear to be different.
Paul had these fears also, and he needed the power of prayer to overcome them.
Without the support of other Christians in prayer Paul felt he could not be what God called him to be.
Paul was a busy man, but he was also a man of prayer.
He recognized the source of his power was in prayer and not busyness.
He knew this was true for all Christians, and that is why he urges them to be prayer warriors, for even all the armor of God will not be adequate for victory without prayer.
The armor does not make you independent of God so that you can win the battle on your own.
It just makes you a more useful soldier of the cross if you are empowered by prayer.
Calvin said on this verse, “Having put armor on the Ephesians, he now enjoins them to fight by prayer.
This is the true method.
To call upon God is the chief exercise of faith and hope, and it is in this way that we obtain from God every blessing.”
Prayer is like the wall switch.
You flick it and power flows to produce light and energy for many uses.
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