Coffee With Jesus (part 1)
9/25/2008
I love coffee. Yep, I said it. “My name is John, and I am a coffee-holic.” I like coffee black, I like coffee with sugar, or sweet n low, or splenda. I like coffee with milk or creamer or whatever else makes it that lovely khaki color. Those of you who drink the stuff are right there with me. Am I right? Have you noticed though, about coffee…it has a lot to do with me and my personal tastes? I mean, we’re about to lose our Dallas Starbucks. When I heard that, my heart shattered into a billion pieces (not really). At least there’s Dunkin Donuts. Then again, what good is a Starbucks without a drive-thru in this day of age?
When this Starbucks first came east, I was intimidated to order anything. It’s like you need to know a different language to order your coffee. And I bet you’ve heard about people trying to go into the place to order, “just a regular cup of coffee.” Nope, not happening. You get up to the counter, and all of the sudden, you get much more cultured. You order a grande half-calf no fat caramel latte with whipped cream. When in the world did we ever have such customization? Dell is trying to do the same with computers. Our favorite brands are trying to do it with cars, and cell phones, and meals from nice chain restaurants. We have become a country of, not just consumers, but consumers expecting everything to be customized to our own specific needs. Since all this is true, then why would our relationship with Jesus be any different?
Now before you tar and feather me, I want to make myself clear. Jesus tells gives us a beautiful, perfect model of how to pray in His sermon on the Mount. However, we often forego that model to speed things up, or just because we forget. I’ve heard that prayer is an art. I’ve heard that prayer is a gift. I’ve heard that the church is called to be a house of prayer. And prayer, is much more than just presenting our requests; it’s about a beautiful conversation that aids in the process of restoring your soul.
We are consumers of prayer. Ouch, that’s a strong statement, right? Oh yeah, well have you ever tried to pray a prayer without making requests to God? We sit down next to God, whip out our grocery prayer list and go to town. In fact, I’m as guilty of this as the next guy. I usually begin my prayers with, “dear God, thank you for this day…” and then I babble of a long series of requests before my “in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.” And then, there’s the pray before bed technique that I know so many of our teens have adopted. It’s the prayer shortly before sleep where you begin, (yawn) dear God, thank you for this day and…(nod off, snore) and the next morning you wake up with “amen.”
Does this at all sound familiar? We’re not afraid to ask God for the most selfish things. But when it comes to having a conversation, we often seem to be the only one doing the talking. Matthew 6:7 says that when you pray, you shouldn’t babble on like the pagans. They think they will be heard because of their many words. Here’s something new. Have you ever looked at prayer as a conversation where you talk to God and He actually talks back to you? My favorite time of day is when I can sit down, in the quiet of the morning, look at the beautiful sun coming up behind our youth building, and just think about God. I have coffee with Jesus. Like, somewhere in the silence, there is a still, small voice talking to you; or even wanting to talk to you. But, most of the time, our lives are too loud to recognize the small voice. Our lives are laden with endless distractions and obligations pulling us every which way.
This summer at a work camp, our teens that went were challenged with many things, but there was one lesson that really stuck out to me. We were challenged to pray without making requests of God. Do you have any clue how hard that is? I know some of you are thinking, well, that’s just a shame that they can’t pray without asking for things. But have you honestly tried it? Wow, it’s tough! It’s exactly what I’m talking about, though. Because we are such consumers of prayer, we leave no room for conversation. This further separates us from God. See Romans 8:25-27.
When this Starbucks first came east, I was intimidated to order anything. It’s like you need to know a different language to order your coffee. And I bet you’ve heard about people trying to go into the place to order, “just a regular cup of coffee.” Nope, not happening. You get up to the counter, and all of the sudden, you get much more cultured. You order a grande half-calf no fat caramel latte with whipped cream. When in the world did we ever have such customization? Dell is trying to do the same with computers. Our favorite brands are trying to do it with cars, and cell phones, and meals from nice chain restaurants. We have become a country of, not just consumers, but consumers expecting everything to be customized to our own specific needs. Since all this is true, then why would our relationship with Jesus be any different?
Now before you tar and feather me, I want to make myself clear. Jesus tells gives us a beautiful, perfect model of how to pray in His sermon on the Mount. However, we often forego that model to speed things up, or just because we forget. I’ve heard that prayer is an art. I’ve heard that prayer is a gift. I’ve heard that the church is called to be a house of prayer. And prayer, is much more than just presenting our requests; it’s about a beautiful conversation that aids in the process of restoring your soul.
We are consumers of prayer. Ouch, that’s a strong statement, right? Oh yeah, well have you ever tried to pray a prayer without making requests to God? We sit down next to God, whip out our grocery prayer list and go to town. In fact, I’m as guilty of this as the next guy. I usually begin my prayers with, “dear God, thank you for this day…” and then I babble of a long series of requests before my “in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.” And then, there’s the pray before bed technique that I know so many of our teens have adopted. It’s the prayer shortly before sleep where you begin, (yawn) dear God, thank you for this day and…(nod off, snore) and the next morning you wake up with “amen.”
Does this at all sound familiar? We’re not afraid to ask God for the most selfish things. But when it comes to having a conversation, we often seem to be the only one doing the talking. Matthew 6:7 says that when you pray, you shouldn’t babble on like the pagans. They think they will be heard because of their many words. Here’s something new. Have you ever looked at prayer as a conversation where you talk to God and He actually talks back to you? My favorite time of day is when I can sit down, in the quiet of the morning, look at the beautiful sun coming up behind our youth building, and just think about God. I have coffee with Jesus. Like, somewhere in the silence, there is a still, small voice talking to you; or even wanting to talk to you. But, most of the time, our lives are too loud to recognize the small voice. Our lives are laden with endless distractions and obligations pulling us every which way.
This summer at a work camp, our teens that went were challenged with many things, but there was one lesson that really stuck out to me. We were challenged to pray without making requests of God. Do you have any clue how hard that is? I know some of you are thinking, well, that’s just a shame that they can’t pray without asking for things. But have you honestly tried it? Wow, it’s tough! It’s exactly what I’m talking about, though. Because we are such consumers of prayer, we leave no room for conversation. This further separates us from God. See Romans 8:25-27.
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