elimChristianFellowship

Luke 10:38-42 38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” NASU

I. Fall in Love with the One You’re Praying To

Martha’s heart was more captivated by ministry, service, doing, and works than she was by the Person of Jesus Christ. Her heart was absolutely captivated by these things. Now, don’t get me wrong, feeding Jesus and 12 other fellas’ bellies was quite a chore and a sacrifice…but Jesus makes it clear in this passage that she had missed the mark…and that Mary was actually the one who got it right…Mary’s heart was captivated by the Person of Jesus Christ more than serving Jesus Christ.

Just a warning from someone who loves ministry, loves the Bible, loves people, loves praying, loves doing…don’t allow these things to take that special place in your heart for Jesus…it’s so easy to crowd Him out, and cram these things in…it’s so very easy to find yourself forgetting to simply just be with your first love, Jesus Christ.

Rev 2:1-4 1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. NASU

Ps 73:25 written by Asaph, a prophet and chief musician appointed by David to his post
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. NASU

Ps 27:4 written by David
4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD
And to meditate in His temple. NASU

II. Position Yourself to Be in Awe of Who You’re Praying To

I remember one special day nearly 20 years ago. I was playing softball for the Navy team at the base I was stationed at in Misawa, Japan. I typically played shortstop but the coach decided to move me out to right center field for this game. We were playing a very tough team and had held on to a slim lead of 2 runs in the last inning. There were 2 outs and 2 men on base and the other team’s best hitter was up, and he was left handed. If he hit a home run, they would win…if we got him out, we would win. Our pitcher tossed a beautiful pitch and the batter swung his bat with a picture-perfect swing. The ball was headed in my direction and came off the bat with such a trajectory that I knew it had home run potential. I began to backpedal towards the fence. As I got near the fence, I put my hand back to touch it to ensure I was as close as I could get to it. The ball kept coming in my direction and as it started to come down, I could see that this ball would go over the fence. As it dropped from the sky just behind the fence, I jumped up as high as I could and reached my glove up to catch it. Miraculously, the ball landed in my glove as I was at the apex of my leaping ability. Of course, what comes up must come down and so I began the descent and as my feet were about to touch the ground, the metal bar on the fence hit the backside of my glove and the ball popped out. With everything seemingly in slow motion, I realized my only chance was to grab the ball with my bare right hand. Thankfully, I grabbed it and we won the game! Let me tell ya…position is so important…had I been 2 feet forward, 2 feet to the right or to the left…no dream catch, no story to tell…just me eternally kicking myself in the pants for a missed opportunity.

Notice how Mary positioned herself humbly before this awesome Man that healed the lame and the blind, cast out demons and raised the dead…

Luke 10:39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet…

Listen to how this psalmwriter positioned himself to be in awe of this powerful, majestic, mighty, awesome God…

Ps 8:3-4
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? NASU

In Henry Blackaby’s workbook entitled Experiencing God, he shares a story of the Lord putting it on his heart for his church to reach college students at a nearby college campus. They tried for 2 years with absolutely no success. Finally, after praying, Mr. Blackaby is given direction from the Lord to encourage the students to look for God moving, stop whatever you are doing and jump into what God is doing. One of the Christian students that attended the church did just that. She was asked a question about God by a fellow student. Rather than attend the class she was on her way to, she decided to skip the class and spend time with this friend that was being drawn to the Lord by the Holy Spirit. This led to the Christian student meeting a group of students that were gathering together to study the Bible, but needed someone to lead them in the study because none of them knew the Lord!

Eccl 5:2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few. NASU

III. Let His Words Be Many, Let Your Words Be Few

We’ve all heard this statement…we’ve got 2 ears and 1 mouth…listening in prayer twice as much as you talk, recognizes the cue God sent mankind by giving us 2 ears and 1 mouth…

Do you have a Martha prayer life, coming to Jesus with your agenda, your grocery list, your concerns?

Or is your prayer life similar to Mary’s, marked by sitting at His feet and listening to what captivates His heart?

Luke 10:39-40 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

Are you excited to sit at His feet and discover what makes His heart pitter-patter? Coming to His feet, recognizing that His wisdom, His insight, His plan is far superior to mine or yours…

Job 23:12 “…I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” NASU

You wanna find out where you are in this? Your current prayer life, whether you talk more or listen…reveals where you are in this. Who’s words do you treasure more? The words from your lips? Or the words from His lips? For a fruitful prayer life…let Him fill your mouth with His prayer concerns.

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” NASU

It’s been my own personal experience and it’s also been the admission of others that have been down right honest, and gut level real with me…that the last thing in a believer’s life that is yielded up to the Lordship of God, is a believer’s prayer life.

Is He Lord of your prayer life?

“We have more than once seen that God’s listening to our voice depends upon our listening to His voice.” Andrew Murray, In the School of Prayer
(from In the School of Prayer, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)