Week 7

This Sunday Central is having a special Prayer Service. Are you ready? Pastor Randy gave us three prayers to focus on this week:

1. Father, help me to hate sin.
2. Father, help me to love prayer.
3. Father, give me the gift of brokenness.

The first two are easy to pray, but when I got to #3 I choked. I have always been a bit reluctant to drift towards such a potential fall into the "ugly cry". This brings to mind visions of a crazy woman, bawling-prone-on-the-floor-git-me-a-box-of-tissues kind of experience. Not the most "holy" looking scene I should think. But you know, it's not about me, is it?

Let's look at some definitions.

broke: bankrupt, penniless, tamed
broken: crushed, separated, reduced to fragments, out of working order, tilled ground
Antonym: Pride

God is into brokenness. Psalm 51:10-17 is part of the Prayer of Pardon by David.
God is near the crushed. Psalm 34:15-18
God heals a broken heart. Psalm 147:3
God saves the broken. Isaiah 61:1-3
Jesus saves the broken. Luke 4:16-21

The kind of brokenness that God is looking for is not a form of paralysis or uselessness. The kind of sorrow you want to shoot for is a sorrow that leads to repentance. (2 Corinthians 7:10) It causes a U-turn of life. It's the kind of experience that makes you want to take a different road to avoid that sin again. You would even feel you need to warn others about that pitfall. It's a change alright...a new life.

Let's look at Mark 6:30-44 to see what God can do with broken bread.

One of my favorite quotes is from Ruth Stull, a missionary from Peru. She said, "If my life is broken when given to Jesus, it is because pieces will feed a multitude, while a loaf will satisfy only a little lad."

If I want to be selfish and keep my life to myself, it will remain unbroken, untilled and untamed. I will have it all to myself. But with the touch of Jesus' hand, the shattered fragments of my life seem to multiply and He uses them to give hope to others--others who try to keep their life in a tight fist. If Jesus can give His life for others, why can't I?

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 1 Corinthians 11:24

Could it be that He is calling us to brokenness as well as communion with Him?

Luke 8:5-14 is another description of brokenness. Where does the seed grow best? In tilled, broken ground.

When we allow God's plowshare to rip through our packed life, our life opens to new growth. The seed, or God's word, finds fertile soil to grow in. Watered with our tears of Godly sorrow, we discover a growth that amazes us. From a small faith, a mustard seed, a harvest is found.

"The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. Mark 4:28

How do you see yourself now? I can see that brokenness is not such a scary thing...because it leads to repentance.

In the hand of a Mighty God, your pieces of life can bring everlasting peace.

What I want to do while we're here tonight is walk through the handout from Central on Cleansing and Personal renewal. I want you to find a quiet spot with your Bible and really look inwards on every aspect of your life.

When you're ready, feel free to walk about the building, praying as you are lead. Let us put our prayers to work tonight.

Next week we will enjoy dessert in the desert. Dig through your Bible and find verses that speak to you about desert and wilderness.

How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!
Psalm 78:40