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Introduction
Kids' Prayers A daddy was listening to his child say his prayer, which began, "Dear Harold." At this, dad interrupted and said, "Wait a minute, how come you called God, 'Harold'?" The little boy looked up and said, "That's what they call Him in church. You know, in the prayer we say, "Our Father, who art in heaven, Harold be Thy name." ============================== And this particular four-year-old prayed: "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets." =============================== One night Mike's parents overheard this prayer. "Now I lay me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow's test, if I should die before I wake, that's one less test I have to take." ================================= A five-year-old said grace at family dinner one night. "Dear God, thank you or these pancakes." When he concluded, his parents asked him why he thanked God for pancakes when they were having chicken. He smiled and said, "I thought I'd see if He was paying attention tonight." ================================== A little boy's prayer: "Dear God, please take care of my daddy and my mommy and my sister and my brother and my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess." =================================== A rabbi said to a precocious six-year-old boy: "So your mother says your prayers for you each night? Very commendable. What does she say?" The little boy replied, "Thank God he's in bed!" ==================================== A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the mother said. The little girl bowed her head and said, "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?" ================================== Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. After a while he emerged and informed his mother that he had thought it over and then said a prayer. "Fine," said the pleased mother. "If you ask God to help you not misbehave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me not misbehave," said Johnny. "I asked Him to help you put up with me." ================================= A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if You can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am!" Sometimes we treat God like He is some kind of cosmic genie. That if we say the right words or do the right things then He’ll have to do what we ask and fulfill our wishes. But in the last chapter of the book of 1st John we learn that moving God to move is more complicated than that – that He is out to change and stretch and cleanse us just as much as act in the world. We’re not going to go over every verse of chapter 5 – John has made his point over and over that we should love. Today we’re going to talk about our relationship to God – to sin, to the enemy – and to answered prayer. We start in verse 1 with a statement of faith: 1 – 5 • We learn to love others by loving God – pour yourself into Him and He will pour you into others. • God’s commands are not a “burden” – you can do it! • You are an overcomer – if you believe in Jesus you will overcome no matter you feel • The way God makes us overcomers is to strengthen our faith – not give us visible victory in all areas • No matter what they say, those that don’t believe in Jesus will not overcome the world – period. What we learn: • Don’t try to find success in life through the world’s methods • Trials aren’t a punishment from God, but a way for Him to strengthen our relationship with Him and our faith in Him. • Overcoming (same word used in Ch 4 Nike) comes from: 1. Telling truth about Jesus 2. Trusting in Jesus no matter what circumstances look like 3. Leaning on what Jesus did for you – not on your own strength or ways of succeeding or the world’s 6 – 12 A Difficult Passage Verse 6 – Water – some believe this refers to the fact that Jesus was a man – born like a human. Others feel it represents Jesus baptism when the Spirit testified of Christ and came upon Him like a dove. Blood – most commentators feel this represents the blood Jesus shed on the cross for our sins. But some believe the reference should be to: “Water and blood” in other words – the water and blood that poured from Jesus’ side when the Roman soldier thrust his sword in after the crucifixion. This testifies to the fact that Jesus actually physically died. “not by water only but by water and blood” – Jesus didn’t just tell people to prepare for God’s coming by being baptized, He also came Himself to give his “life blood” for us. The Spirit witnessed all these things so He can “testify” about the truth of them to us. Verse 12 is good verse to share as witness – only those in the Son have life 13 – 15 Getting what you want from God It’s a process: 1. Believe in Jesus 2. Be confident in your salvation 3. Approach God 4. Ask according to His will 5. Know that He hears and grants our wishes 16 – 17 What is a sin that leads to death? 3 possible interpretations: 1 – Refers to the Jewish law where some sins were punishable by death (witchcraft, incest, aggravated murder, idolatry, etc.) while other sins did not carry the death sentence (sins of ignorance). 2 – Refers to civil law where some transgressions where punishable by death and there was nothing anyone entreating on a person’s behalf to a magistrate might do to stop it. Then there are “sins” where the judge could decide some other punishment than death – so in those cases it could prove valuable for someone to “pray” for mercy. 3 – Refers to sins for which God determines the person must die a temporal death (the example of the disobedient prophet in 1Kings 13 as an example) whereas there are sins that God would not chose to take the person home. Unlikely that this passage has anything to do with blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. (claiming that the real person of who Jesus is comes from Satan - Matt 12:32, John 8:49). 18 – 21 Keeping safe from the devil Don’t continue sinning. Instead “keep a watch” on yourself The idea here is: Don’t let continual sin rule your life – in this way you keep yourself from being opening your life up to condemnation and attack from the enemy. And so finishing up the letter in verse 21 – we could insert anything that keeps us from experiencing God – not just idols but sexual sins, anger, greed, jealously – you know what things tempt you. “Keep” in verse 21 is a word that means “isolation” – we need to isolate ourselves from things that bring us into temptation. That doesn’t mean be a monk in a monastery, but we can avoid those things that we know will bring us into contact with sin. Conclusion • Love God with all you are • Believe in Jesus because its true • Be confident in approaching God to fulfill His will • Keep clear of continual sin • Keep safe from Satan |
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