Draw the Circle Part 7 – Share the Answers

John 4:4-26, 28-30, 39-42; Revelation 12:11~May 20, 2018

 Introduction

          Today would be day 42 in the 40-day prayer journey. I trust that you have kept circling since Friday. Remember, the prayer journey was never about 40 days. It was about developing a habit of prayer continuing day 41 and beyond.

          As we get into today’s message, the final one in the Draw the Circle series, I want to begin by sharing some testimonies from this journey. The first is from my friend Garland and the rest are your stories…and let me say that it has been my privilege to read them. I marvel at the many ways God meets us where we are—in the good, bad, and ugly seasons of life. Unfortunately, because of time constraints, I am unable to share all the testimonies I received.

Testimonies

From Garland     

Life is difficult and feeling alone in your anxiety and problems can make it worse. The last couple of years have been difficult for my family but during those times God has used the prayers of others to give us hope. In just one of many instances Rob called and told me that as he prayed for my family, God showed him that my problem was like a puzzle with the borders complete and now God wanted to work on the inside to bring healing. 

I was amazed because he didn’t know that one of my hobbies is doing puzzles and just the night before I had completed the borders on a new one. Also, the day before, my wife had asked my strategy for completing puzzles. I explained that you start with the outside because it is easiest and then you move toward the inside pieces because they are more difficult. God spoke to Rob over a thousand miles away using an illustration that spoke directly to my personality and experience to provide me with renewed hope and faith. Prayer is effective!

From our Trinity Family

The first testimony from you all is about one of our Trinity family members who had nearly resigned herself to living with anxiety, fear, and panic in situations where she wasn’t in complete control. On day one of the challenge, she started circling an opportunity that would normally have brought on the anxiety, fear, and panic. She started asking God to bring calmness and speak peace to her heart. When the discomfort would creep in as the day got closer, she would often battle it with the words, “Not today, Satan.” To make a long story short, God met her in a powerful way with the calmness and peace she needed. She wrote these words, “This has been one of the most powerful experiences of my faith.  I know now that I don’t have to live with a stomach ache over silly things.  I know how to give my worries and fears to God, CIRCLE THEM, and truly trust Him to give me His peace.”

 

          The second testimony comes from someone who said the prayer journey and the book have taught her to give things to God instead of trying to take them all on herself. She wants to schedule and plan everything but is now accepting that she cannot and so must trust God’s plan.

         

The next one comes from one of our family members who started journaling on day five that a child would find favor with decision makers regarding the future. On day 39, confirmation arrived that favor was granted.

         

Another testimony contains a beautifully creative idea. One of our Trinity family members drew a circular target with rings and put it on the side of the refrigerator so that it will be seen and prayed often. Each circle contains a different need concerning their child. The drawing includes the words of Daniel 9:19, “O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God.” One of the needs has already been met—a job.

          I love the closing words of that testimony: “This Draw the Circle challenge was just what I needed. I look forward to meeting with Him with my “target” and my other focused prayer circles.”

 

          I don’t know where to start! This journey has been such a blessing, the biggest of which is how much closer I feel to God and how my faith has increased, although I still have vast room for growth! I have felt a calling into some form of ministry. I’m learning to lean on and pray using the promises in the Word. I have excitement every day talking and spending time with our Savior! I have childlike enthusiasm and excitement for what is going to happen next. I still have several things circled that haven’t come to fruition, but I can say with confidence that it is a not yet and not a no!

         

The final two testimonies are longer, and I include them because they speak of adversity, prayers not yet answered, and learning to keep circling while learning to trust God’s timing.

 

On February 28, I received an unexpected call that blindsided me and knocked me off my feet. On that day, the career I had devoted my heart and soul to the past 12 years was over in an instant.

After the initial shock wore off, I picked myself up and began the journey to reclaim my life and my faith. That day, I decided it was time to take care of myself spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Off I went to the gym where I hadn’t been in months, and that day, it was just me, Jesus, and the elliptical. When life knocked me off my feet, I landed on my knees right where I needed to be all along and a whole lot of soul-searching began. In the weeks to come, I would spend a lot of time in the gym and Jesus would meet me there. We spent a lot of time talking, and I experienced some of my most intimate moments with God. 

During my soul searching, I discovered that, ironically, I was “safe” in my job, but I had become a workweek zombie. I didn’t realize what I had lost—my passion, myself, my childlike faith. Rather quickly, I came to the realization that while I didn’t choose to leave the warm, safe waters, God was calling me to dive into the deep waters. He started to show me the need to be patient and quiet to hear where He is leading.

I was sick on the day that the prayer challenge was. After getting the kids off to school, I headed to the gym, and there on the elliptical as I listened to the sermon, I could feel a chill come over my body. As you mentioned the significance of 40 days, nothing magical but significant, I realized it had been 40 days since my world had been turned upside down.

During those 40 days, I worked through so many emotions but I knew the significance of the next 40 focused on Jesus and prayer were exactly what I needed right when I needed it. Reading Draw the Circle and taking part in the prayer challenge has proven to speak to me right where I am, often taking my breath away and leaving me in tears. Since the start of the 40-day prayer challenge, I have been bombarded with what may seem like coincidences— perfect alignment of messages from the book, a church sermon, a daily devotional, a book, a movie, a song, a sign, or something someone says. Messages I need to hear right when I need to hear them whether it is to calm my fears or to encourage me to live my purpose. The more I pray and the more I listen, I realize that God is talking to me all the time, which sometimes leaves my head spinning, leaving me with journaling as my only outlet.

Of course, there are still tough days when I feel attacked with fear and worry, leaving me with a lack of self-confidence and the weight of feeling overwhelmed. I have always been someone to strive for “perfection” (which I’ve realized is setting me up for instant failure because I am human) and losing my job can sometimes feel like a huge attack on my self-worth. I had to work to get past the hurt and anger. The decision had nothing to do with me, but it was hard to not take it personally. At times, I could find myself getting consumed with feelings of being left out, less than, and a failure.

There are also times I find myself feeling stagnant and struggling to find the words to pray— and sometimes feeling like God is being quiet and I can’t hear Him. In those times, I can feel crippled or I get stuck in my head. Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck on a sit and spin, I know I’m circling but not in the way I need to be. I can start to worry about financial provisions and start trying to solve it my way but then God reminds me to be patient and that I need to follow where He is leading.

From the start of my new journey, God always gave me the perspective that it was only a job. People that I cared about were suffering through much greater battles— cancer, the loss of parents, and the unexpected loss of a child. I realized that this loss was perhaps not a loss at all but a step in the right direction. Yes, my job helped me provide for my family, but I’m learning that God has much bigger plans for us and that it was time for me to rediscover my God-given passions.

I was left lost and confused about who I am and what I feel passionate about. God has taken me on a journey through my life and memories, helping me to rediscover my passions. I desire to use those passions for His good and His glory.

God has called me to serve Him with the time, talent, and treasures He provides. He’s given me a desire to create, inspire, celebrate, and serve others through community outreach. He has given me small glimpses of what is to come but this journey will last far beyond 40 days. While I haven’t seen the full picture and much of it is a mystery to me, I do have an overwhelming sense of peace and trust that God has a much greater plan.

Since losing my job and then taking part in the 40-day prayer challenge, my faith has been strengthened and I’m learning how to trust Him in the unexpected. If we lean into Him, He will redeem the situation. I’m learning to be patient and that He truly is in the waiting. This journey of prayer is changing the way I think and view life. I honestly believe it is changing the trajectory of my family’s life, and I’m learning to fully rely on God, more than ever before.

           And this final testimony…which also speaks to the value of journaling.

I told you on Day 4 that this prayer challenge was ruining my life. It is now day 36 and the only word I have is, ‘unraveled’. Everything feels like it is unraveling. I was hoping that some amazing miracle would show itself (like it has in the book) but I am more confused on day 36 than I was on day 1. In just 36 days we have faced difficult and uncomfortable situations with our family and I feel like I am so far from figuring out what He wants me to do. On certain days I find myself holding back on what to pray because I fear what will happen, yet on other days, I get so frustrated with the uncertainty that I shout, “bring it on!” We were told to pray specific prayers and just recently I pulled a total Gideon move because of how unsure I am of things. However, there is a plus side to all of this. I believe the reason I am having all these uncertainties is that I had a breakthrough that has never happened before. In these past 36 days, I conquered many past demons. I asked a lot of people for forgiveness for my past behaviors and most importantly, God convicted me in a big way and showed me just how insecure and selfish I was…. I was a horrible person back then and I would do whatever I could to get my way. Shame on me for thinking I was better than anyone. God has shown me exactly what second chances are all about. I look at people differently now. As I read through this letter again, I noticed, in the beginning, I said I was hoping for a miracle to show itself, as I got to the end, I realize one did occur, it just took writing this letter to see it! Now, if I could only figure out what He wants me to do!!!

          Testimonies are important, powerful, and necessary. Simply put, a testimony is just telling others what happened to you. There are three huge benefits to sharing testimonies.

#1 – Sharing testimonies helps us own our story and the grace that goes with it.

          None of us is perfect. We are sinful human beings who blow it and need to own that.

John 4:4-26 (NIV)

⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹ Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

Sharing testimonies helps us own our story and the grace that goes with it.

#2 – Sharing testimonies helps us point people in God’s direction.

          When we share our stories, we give others an opportunity to identify with our humanity, our experiences, and our journey. When we share what we’ve been through, folks are often more interested in learning how we made it through.

John 4:28-32, 39–42 (NIV84)

²⁸ Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” ³⁰ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him [Jesus] because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹ And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Sharing testimonies helps us point people in God’s direction.

#3 – Sharing testimonies is a powerful weapon in spiritual warfare.

          In Revelation, the Apostle John says that Satan is our accuser and that he accuses us before God day and night. In legal terms, he sets himself up as the prosecutor determined to see us convicted and held accountable for our sin. He hurls accusations against us and seeks to use our memories against us. He wants to believe there is no hope—that we are ultimately unacceptable, unlovable and irredeemable.

          However, it’s important for us to keep in mind Jesus’ words about him, “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44, NIV).

          We learn from John’s words in Revelation 12:11 (NIV84) that – They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Own your story and the grace that goes with it.

I love what Paul wrote in his second letter to the church in Corinth Greece, “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. ¹⁰ That 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 12:9-10).

Sharing testimonies is a powerful weapon in spiritual warfare.

          Now, let me offer two cautions concerning testimonies:

#1 – There is never a reason to embellish our testimonies to make them sound better or more dramatic than they really are.

• God doesn’t need that kind of help.
• The spiritual weapon is truth, not embellishment.

#2 – Today’s testimony doesn’t guarantee tomorrow’s road will be easy.

• We live life one day at a time and we will find that God is right on time every time.

Before I wrap up, Kristin is going to share a song with us.

Testimonies (1) help us own our story and the grace that goes with it (2) help us point people in God’s direction, and (3) they are powerful weapons in spiritual warfare.

     Here’s your homework for this week:

• Share a testimony with someone this week.
• Keep circling. For anyone who is interested, a group of people will start meeting in the sanctuary for prayer at 7:00 AM each weekday.

Prayer