Three Great Questions

After last nights service I had three great questions asked about the sermon.

1.) The first question was about the story of Martha and Mary. The person asked me, "What if you are a servant type and want to serve others?" 

Answer:  The parable is not discouraging a person from being a servant because we are called as Christians to become servants.  In the case of Mary and Martha, Martha was very busy preparing a meal for Jesus while Mary sat at His feet and had a conversation.  Martha gets a little miffed about this and asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her in the kitchen. Basically Martha is saying, "Hey, this isn't fair, I should have not have to do all the work while Mary gets all of your attention!"
The key here is Choice. No one appointed Martha to busy herself, she chose to do it. And there was nothing wrong with Martha's choice. The issue is the attitude of Martha.  She chose to be a servant which is wonderful until she resents her own decision and gets angry at her sister who made a different choice.  I think we can all relate to this. We get involved on a committee or volunteer to help with something and then get a resentful spirit because we think others just aren't contributing in the way we think they should.  The other lesson here is knowing that there is a time to be busy and a time to become quiet at the feet of Jesus. Sunday worship is a great example. We have many things to attend to other than with God and others in worship.

2.) The second question I was asked was about prayer.  The person asked me, "I want to pray for someone but I do not know what to pray for, I do not want to pray the wrong thing?"

Answer:  The key here is what we talked about in the Parable of the Good Father. (Luke: 11-13) Pray for the power of the Holy Spirit.  The reason we should pray everyday for the filling of the Holy Spirit is because the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us revelation from God.  The Holy Spirit "knows" exactly what you need to pray for, who you need to pray for, when you need to pray. The Holy Spirit speaks to us directly from God.  Too often we pray in our own power and without the power of the Holy Spirit and then wonder why our prayers are not being answered. The "SECRET" to powerful prayer is allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us and to instruct us as to what to pray for.  When we do that  we can know for sure that we are praying within Gods will and will then know for sure our prayers will be answered.

3.) The third question was about how to feed and exercise our Spirit.  This person said, "I understood how we can exercise our bodies by the doing  4-10s I illustrated and by eating healthy. Give me something specific I can do to feed and exercise my Spirit.

Answer: I am going to answer this one in a separate blog post.  Great questions, keep them coming.

God has a plan for your life!    See you soon, pastor Kent