Recovery Room
Preached on October 23rd, 2005 at 11:00AM by Bishop Brian Greene - 00:40:32
Part of the "Prayer" series
Listen to the sermon: Recovery Room
by Bishop Brian C. Greene
Matthew 6:6, 9; 1 Kings 17:8-15
In 1 Kings chapter 17, God recruits a widow into Elijah’s life to sustain him for the fulfillment of his destiny which is to bring the nation of Israel back to God (1 Kings 18:37-39). But what if during this drought and famine, the widow had been praying for God to be her source? Again, the word Father means “Progenitor” which means “source”, as well as “supply.”
The word “supply” is derived from the Latin word suppleo which means:
- Requisition
- Recruit
- Recover
Imagine if her prayer prior to Elijah’s arrival was this: “Will I ever recover from this famine or am I going to die? Lord, please help me and my son to recover from this famine.”
Note that this widow and her son live in a town called Zarephath which means “the place of refinement.” This is the place where God has us while He is responding to our “requisition”. There was an old song when I was growing up called “Prayer Changes Things.” However, I am reminded of the fact that prayer also changes the one who is doing the praying. While we wait for God to answer our prayers, he will always have us in the town of Zarephath, that is the place of refinement. God answering our prayers without refining us is like a parent giving a teenager an automobile without providing driving lessons. Dangerous! Could this be the reason that your prayers have yet to be answered? Maybe you’re simply not ready.
Matthew chapter 6 tells us that when we pray we need to enter into our closet and shut the door. Then our father (source, supplier) who sees our secret prayers will reward us in the open. Our prayer closet is “God’s Recovery Room.” It is the place where we recover what we have lost. What can we lose which God can recover for us?
- Things (2 Kings 6:1-7). Instead of getting angry and upset when you lose you keys or something that’s important, why don’t you pray? Ask the Holy Spirit to recover the lost item. He will do it.
- Time (Joel 2:25). In God, we can make up for lost time. I have seen people come back to God and then fulfill dreams in their adulthood that they thought would never happen.
- Targets (as in destiny and purpose); (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62; John 21:15-19). Note: Peter would recover unlike Judas who committed suicide. Do not ever think that you have messed up so badly that even your purpose is now lost. God has the ability to help you to recover not simply your “sense” of purpose, but the purpose itself.
God truly is our recoverer, if we would only regularly enter the recovery room of prayer.
