3/3/2016 Prayer Meeting Sermonette: "Never Give Up!"

Pastor Pilgrim: “Never Give Up!”

Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova won the Gold at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. She holds the World Record  (12.21 seconds) for the 100 meter hurdles, and is missing two fingers on her right hand.

PASTOR DANIELLE PILGRIM BRIEFS “THE WAR ROOM”

 

Two songs (“He’s Able,” and “The Blood Will Never Lose It’s Power,” first composition ever written by Andrae Crouch) preceded Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “War Room” sermon, one based upon the first verse of an eight-verse parable of Jesus. It is Luke 8:1: “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” The next seven verses describe what is often titled the “Parable of the Importunate Widow.” The seldom used word “importunate” makes an appearance in Luke 11:8 in connection with the late-night “importunity” of a man insisting on three loaves of bread from a friend. His “importunity” gets him what he wants. In the 8th chapter of Luke, a widow wearies an unjust judge with her “continual coming.” Both parables are about prayer. The “New Living Translation” version of the Bible features the phrases “always pray” and “never give up.” The title of Danielle Pilgrim’s sermon was “Never Give Up.”

Pastor Pilgrim began and concluded her sermon with two personal anecdotes that described the process of overcoming obstacles in order to achieve a goal. The process was not easy in either of the cases. Persistence, however, resulted in a final victory.

 

The pastor told the congregation that, in high school, she was a pretty good track runner. She won a lot of races. She won a lot of medals. She was even featured in the newspaper. She related that she was “good only because the coach was good.” This coach was about 75 years old, and was very encouraging to his athletes. He liked to “get you out of your comfort zone.” Pastor Pilgrim (who was probably just plain old “Danielle” in high school) was quite comfortable sticking to the 100-yard dash. The coach suggested that she attempt the 100-yard hurdles. Compared to the 100-yard dash, this was not an easy thing to do. Young Danielle’s first day attempting to run the hurdles was entirely unsuccessful. On the second day, she would run up to the first hurdle, and then just stop. The third day was a repeat of the second day. She stopped at the first hurdle, “paralyzed by fear.” The coach made a remark to Danielle, “if you keep giving up on reaching the finish line, it will always be a dream, and not a reality.” There is a lesson for life in this.

 

 

 

Jesus’ remarks in Luke 18:1 seem to imply that “giving up should never be an option.” We should continue to pray, and to not grow faint. Prayer can always get you to the finish line. Pastor Pilgrim proposed to expound upon two aspects of prayer:

• “PRESENCE” Not only is prayer a means whereby we communicate with God, it is also an avenue that leads us into the presence of God. Here Pastor Pilgrim  provided a statement by Ellen White (perhaps the following one from “Ask, and it shall be given to you:” “Humanity and divinity must be linked together in the experience of every overcomer.” Pastor Pilgrim told her listeners that she recently attempted to purchase a car. She was tired of driving rental vehicles. She spent Thursday looking, but without success. On Friday, she repeated the attempt. She was having difficulty finding a car that was within her budget. A dealer told Pastor Pilgrim that a car that would  suit her requirements was available, and was likely to show up on Saturday. Pastor Pilgrim confessed that when she was at church Sabbath, her thought were on the car, and not on the service. But, by Saturday night, there was still no car. When Monday rolled around, the pastor determined to patronize another dealership. None of the cars she viewed were “calling her name.” But, ultimately, she found one that she liked. The dealer told her that it was out of her price range. This statement by the dealer was reversed, so the pastor was anxiously awaiting a check from the loan company to purchase the vehicle. She was running late on Tuesday, but managed to get her check from FedEx. She offered a prayer at this point, “Lord, I really need this car.” Rushing in an “Uber” to try to make it to the dealership by 7 p.m., Pastor Pilgrim opened the envelope containing the check. She discovered that her name was misspelled. She said that she “lost her Christianity” briefly at this point (I suspect that when she grew aware of her irrational and unchristian attitude, she became disgusted with herself). She took a moment to pray, “Lord, I need your presence at this time.” The last “hurdles” were (through prayer, and with God’s assistance) overcome later that evening. She was able to leave the dealership with a car.

A circuit rider. Pastor Pilgrim’s new horse places her in this league.

• “POWER” Prayer also gives us power. She quoted an unnamed writer, “Satan tries to limit our praise, because he knows that our prayer limits him.” A second quote by Ellen G. White was provided, one from “Steps to Christ,” Chapter 11, titled “The Privilege of Prayer,” which reads: “His humanity (Jesus’) made prayer a necessity and a privilege.” Some additional lines from the same paragraph seem relevant to the discussion: “…if the Savior of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer.” We are “feeble,” Ellen White notes. We require the opposite of “feebleness,” which is “strength,” I inferred. “Power” is a synonym for strength, my weary mind realized. Power is something I lack at Wednesday night installments of the “War Room.”

A concluding statement to the sermon portion of Pastor Danielle Pilgrim’s 3/2/2016 presentation encapsulated the two main points of the talk:
“If we don’t pray, we lack the presence of God, and we lack the power of God.” Pastor Pilgrim confessed that there are many other aspects of prayer that could be discussed, but tonight’s sermon would rest its case on these two points; “presence” and “power.”
Before yielding the rostrum to Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell, Pastor Pilgrim repeated four focuses of “War Room” prayer activity.

• Health.
• Career.
• God’s call for your life.
• Family and relationships.

An Angel of the Lord helps Gideon to discover the “calling” of his life.

Pastor Russell suggested that the assembly divide into four groups, according to which of the four prayer categories our most urgent need belonged. I chose the “Family and Relationships” category.  Sixteen other prayer warriors joined me in a circle, each offering a short prayer that addressed their primary concern. My concern was that other members of my family will come to know Jesus.
Pastor Russell closed the “War Room” gathering by issuing a kind of challenge to the congregation. In the next thirty days, we are to petition God for a breakthrough in our spiritual dimension. He could have meant, at the least, greater faith and a “closer walk” with God. He might have also been alluding to some kind of potential breakthrough of the magnitude of his recent “real time” conversation with God. Personally, I can’t imagine how my world could grow to become any more incredible than it already is. Far from just a “daily grind,” the affairs that I find myself a part of surely exhibit many attributes of the “Kingdom of God” that everyone is implored to seek. I am currently waiting for “all things to be added unto me.” One day, I may even receive “the desire of my heart” (Psalm 37:4).