How to Find the People God Already Has in Mind for You | 5.24.26 | Blessed to BLESS pt.2
When I was growing up, I had a notoriously bad ability to find anything I was looking for. I mean, MOST kids are like this: they ask where their certain toy is because “they can’t find it.” And so you walk into their room with them and IMMEDIATELY find it at the foot of their bed.
I remember asking my mom to help me find an apple for a snack, and she said, “They’re right there on the counter.” And I don’t remember how old I was, but I was old enough to have been able to find it very easily.
But I couldn’t find the apples for the life of me, and I was just explaining to my mom how she was wrong and how I think we had run out of apples and how she should have gotten more at the store… when she walked right over to me, reached past me, and magically produced an apple from a spot right next to my elbow.
And then she said something that has since become a favorite saying of mine, “If it was a snake, it would have BIT you!”
Why is that so common: for us to miss things that are right in front of us? Now, I know that the stereotype is that men are way worse at this, but truly it is a universal experience.
Because there is so much going on in our lives, that it’s hard enough to pay attention to anything. In fact, researchers in 1999 designed an experiment to show how hard it is to pay attention to a simple task when there are distractions happening at the same time.
So I’d like to show you a video with two teams passing a basketball back and forth. And I’d like to see if you’re able to pay attention well enough to count how many passes the white shirts make. Let’s watch this video…
[VIDEO: pt1 Selective Attention]
[blank]
How many passes did you count from the white shirts? The correct answer is 15 passes! Now, how many people saw the gorilla? Don’t believe me? Let’s show the clip again…
[VIDEO: pt2 Selective Attention]
[blank]
When people watch that clip for the first time, over HALF of them don’t see the gorilla. We literally don’t SEE it because we’re focusing on counting passes.
And I wonder how often that happens in our everyday lives? How much stuff do we miss because we’re distracted? How many PEOPLE do we completely MISS and don’t even notice, because our attention is locked somewhere else?
[BLESS book]
We just started a message series on how to BLESS the people in our lives that God wants to bless through us, and today we’re talking about the first rhythm of beginning with prayer, because prayer helps us NOTICE the people God is showing to us.
Because it’s so easy to become tunnel-visioned and distracted by life. So, how do we actually NOTICE the people God wants us to bless? We begin with prayer.
And this is important, because we believe that ALL of us are called to join Jesus in his work: to reach people who are close to us but who feel far from God. We call those people our “Ones.” Who is someone in your life who is close to you, but feels far from God? They are someone God LOVES, and wants to reach… through you!
And I know that can feel intimidating. It can feel awkward, because we’re not sure if we’re supposed to say certain words or find the perfect moment or follow some script.
That’s why our message series right now is called Blessed to BLESS, because the Bible is clear that God doesn’t bless us so that we can hoard it and keep it to ourselves… He blesses us so that we can bless others by letting his love and grace overflow out of us to others.
And so we’re looking at five everyday ways to do just THAT from the life of Jesus. These simple rhythms of life make “Each One Reach One” something we can actually know how to DO. Not a sales pitch for Jesus. Just simple, everyday ways to bless the people God is helping us notice.
And the five rhythms spell out the word BLESS:
B: Begin with prayer
L: Listen with care and compassion
E: Eat together
S: Serve selflessly and sacrificially with no expectation of return
S: Share your story of how Jesus has helped you and grown you
We’re going through these each week, and today we start at the beginning: Begin with Prayer.
[scripture ref]
Which brings us back to that question: how do we NOTICE the people God wants us to bless? How do we know who he’s calling us to? Because we know this to be true: you can’t bless who you haven’t noticed.
And the way we notice the people God is calling us to isn’t by trying harder. No, Jesus modelled for us that it’s by asking God to show you. Beginning with Prayer is how God shows us who to bless.
So, open your Bibles with me to Mark ch1 (p27). We’re going to be looking at two main Scriptures today, and Mark ch1 is the first. This is really early in Jesus’ ministry, before he’s become known for anything really. He has a few disciples who have just started following him, and he goes back to Simon Peter’s house, where he finds his mother-in-law sick with a fever.
And as we read, we’re going to see how Jesus decided where to focus his energy, and what things he didn’t let distract him from where God was calling him. Let’s RISE for the reading of God’s Word.
[Mark 1:30-39]
[Mark 1:32-33]
They get back to Simon’s house, and find out his mother-in-law is sick. Jesus wastes no time in going to her, healing her, and restoring her. And in no time at all, word gets out.
The crowds may have already heard about the miraculous catch of fish that Simon had earlier on. The crowds may have already heard about the man with an unclean spirit whom Jesus healed at the synagogue earlier that day.
By that evening, the whole town is at the door, asking for help and healing. And Jesus does. He heals, casts out demons, and restores people late into the night.
If I had been one of Jesus’ disciples watching this whole thing happen, I would have been amazed and excited. It would have been the best day of my life, because people were experiencing miracles, and Jesus was on a roll, and everything seems to be going in the right direction!
This ministry is working! Word is getting out. Everyone wants to be HERE. Everyone wants to be involved with your thing. And I’d already be mentally rearranging the furniture in the house to be ready for an even bigger crowd the next morning.
[Mark 1:35]
But when they got up the next morning, Jesus was nowhere to be found. Because he got up before the sun, and left the crowds, the voices, the expectations… and he went to a deserted place to pray.
After a full night of ministry and healing and helping people, Jesus gets up before the light. Before any other people. At the BEGINNING of the day, he gets up to pray. Because he’s not assuming that the plan for today is to just continue from where he left off the night before. No, he begins with prayer to seek guidance from the Father.
[Mark 1:36-37]
And when the disciples wake up and realize he’s gone, they go searching for him. Notice that it doesn’t say that they stroll around, hoping to find him eventually. They HUNTED for him. That word carries urgency, maybe even a sense of alarm.
“Everyone is looking for you, Jesus! The crowd is waiting. We’ve got to build on this momentum that we have right here! Let’s get back to it!”
[Mark 1:38-39]
But Jesus says, “Let’s go somewhere else.”
Not back to the full house. Not back to the crowd that had already gathered there, I’m sure. No, Jesus began with prayer and got clarity on where he was supposed to go and who he was supposed to bless, and it wasn’t to get distracted by the good thing that had happened the night before.
He knew he was supposed to keep moving to the neighboring villages and towns, to find people that DIDN’T hear about him yet. People who hadn’t heard the news and been brought to him. People who he gained the heart and focus for…because he began with prayer.
[You can’t bless]
You can’t bless who you haven’t noticed. And Jesus made sure to keep his focus on the people that God was showing to him.
Jesus didn’t let his SUCCESS tell him where to go next. He didn’t let the CROWD define his mission. He asked the Father. And the Father pointed him towards people that he never would have found by just responding to whoever was the loudest crowd in front of him.
And this wasn’t a one-time moment for Jesus. Luke shows us the same pattern, but even more deliberately.
[Luke 6:12-13]
(READ) “Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles…”
This happens a little bit later in Jesus’ ministry, and this passage from Luke lines up with how Mark catalogues it in Mark ch3. Jesus goes up a mountain to pray, but notice the length of time that Luke mentions: he “spent the night in prayer.”
He didn’t pray before bed and then sleep on it. He spent the whole night in prayer. This takes endurance, seeing something all the way through.
Why? Because what followed wasn’t a normal day or a casual encounter. When morning came, he called specific names. From the whole group of disciples and followers, Jesus chose twelve.
And that word for “chose” is deliberate, purposeful. Not reactive.
[Luke 6:14-16]
And when you look at the list of names, and you find out more about them from the gospels and from early church history, you realize that Jesus didn’t just choose twelve of the most charismatic guys. He didn’t choose the most obvious “leadership type” ones. He also didn’t choose them based on how well they already worked together because of how they agreed about everything. (we know they didn’t because there was a tax collector, who worked for the Roman government and skimmed money from his own people, and a zealot, who wanted to overthrow the Roman government)
Jesus prayed through the night and asked the Father which names to call. Which of his disciples to invest in fully. Which of the people around him to give daily blessing to. The choosing flowed FROM beginning in prayer and asking the Father.
[You can’t bless]
Jesus shows us that you can’t bless who you haven’t noticed. Beginning with prayer is how God shows us who to bless and invest in.
But I know what some of you are thinking right now: “Really, Pastor Drew?! Begin with prayer? No duh! That’s Christianity 101. Of course prayer matters!
…But… Why is it still something I talk myself out of? Why is it something I avoid? Why is it still such a struggle after all these years?”
Pastor Dave Ferguson gives some common reasons we don’t pray:
Reason #1: “I don’t know HOW to pray.” A lot of us learned to pray at meals and bedtime, and never got much further than that. We know we SHOULD pray, but many of us aren’t sure HOW…
Reason #2: “I’m too busy.” Sometimes, we don’t pray because life is too busy. Let’s face it, prayer takes time and focus and energy, and many of us feel like we’re running short on all those things. So prayer gets crowded out by everything else that feels more urgent.
Reason #3 (and this is the unspoken, controversial one we’re not sure we can admit out loud) “I’m not sure prayer works.” That takes a lot of honesty to admit, but many of us have prayed and nothing seemed to happen. And when prayer doesn’t seem to produce anything, it gets harder and harder to keep doing it.
We’ve covered that in a few sermons recently, and if that’s where you’re stuck right now, please send me a message later this week. As your pastor, I love you and I want to help you process some of those deep questions.
But I’m also challenging you, because if we want to follow Jesus and obey what he’s calling us to do… if we want to make an impact in our neighborhood, and make an impact in the lives of the people who are close to us but feel far from God… then we have to begin with prayer.
[blank]
There’s a story that Pastor Dave tells in his book about when he had some time before a meeting with a friend named Ron. So he paused to pray by just asking God to direct his thoughts. Here’s what he says…
“Often when I listen, nothing comes to mind, but if something or someone does, I write it down. That day this came to mind: ask Ron how he's doing. The question just popped into my head.
I hadn't thought about Ron in weeks, but I knew he would be joining me for another meeting later in the day. I wrote down, "ask Ron how he's doing" in my journal.
About 5 minutes later, Ron walked into the room. He had decided to stop in early. I felt myself smiling. That was fast! I got up from my easy chair and crossed the room to greet him. Ron asked, got some time to hang out? We spent the next hour catching up.
When there was a pause in the conversation, I asked him, how are you doing? The pause became a silence. He looked away and said, not so good.
He went on to explain how he had just lost his job. It was not a good transition, and he hadn't confided in anyone other than his wife about how he really felt. Later, I was able to explain to Ron that I felt like God had brought him to my mind while praying. The conversation, some compassion, and the very idea that God brought his name to my mind were all very meaningful to Ron. Simple, everyday ways to love your neighbor. God wants to do that kind of stuff, a lot.”
Now, the part that I like so much is that he didn't fix Ron's situation. He didn't have a speech prepared or even offer many words of compassion.
He simply OBEYED that nudge from God to ask Ron how he was doing, and that created space for what God wanted to have happen. And just the act of asking that question and then listening with care, helped Ron feel like he wasn't so alone.
That's the simplicity of loving our neighbors in everyday ways. That’s what beginning with prayer looks like on a normal day of the week.
It’s not dramatic. It’s not complicated. It’s just beginning with prayer, and paying attention to what God puts on your heart… and then acting on it. Even if you don’t know the whole multi-step plan. Just taking that ONE step. Getting a nudge from God, and then OBEYING that with a simple next step.
And I KNOW how tempting it is to turn prayer into some technique we use to control God. We want to make sure we do it “right” so that God will show up the way we want him to.
But that’s not what Scripture says about prayer. That’s not what our passages from Mark OR Luke showed us. Jesus wasn’t praying to make something happen. And he wasn’t praying to get God to give him the strength for his OWN plans that day.
Jesus was asking the Father. He was DEPENDING on the Father. Even though Jesus IS God in the flesh, he still lived from a posture of RECEIVING direction, rather than directing his own steps.
[You can’t bless]
But look at how incredible this is: God already knows who he wants to bless through you. He already has faces and places in mind.
When you pray, you’re not convincing God to show up. God is already at work! God already wants to partner with you and include you in his mission of blessing others and reaching those who feel far from him. Prayer is how we tune in to what he’s already doing.
You can’t bless who you haven’t noticed. Beginning with prayer is how God shows us who to bless.
[Five minutes]
So here’s a one simple next step that I’d like you to take this week: spend five minutes asking God one question: "Who do you want me to notice today?"
Sometimes, I just set a timer on my phone, get a pen and a piece of paper, and close my eyes and listen. And let my thoughts flow. Because maybe I’m distracted or have ADD, or maybe God is able to speak to me through my random thoughts and put someone on my heart. So I write those names down and wonder if there’s a way I can bless them with a text message, or a phone call, or if I’m going to run into them later that day…
Last week, I asked you to think of three people that God is asking you to bless. So maybe you take that list, or you start a new one this week. Bring those names to God. And just ask him: are these people that you’re asking me to bless? Is there someone I’m missing? Is there someone that maybe I haven’t thought of, because of the distractions and noise that’s always taking my attention?
That’s it. No special script for the prayer. Just an open 5 minutes at the beginning of the day, or the beginning of the hour, and one question to let God direct you.
[END]
But just imagine how your life would change if you were able to get a nudge from God on who to show some love to? Imagine the incredible stories of simple, everyday blessing that would come out of simply being open to the people God puts on your heart?
I can tell you that we would be experiencing a whole lot more joy in our lives! We would be experiencing a whole lot more excitement and wonder in our lives. We would be experiencing a whole lot more moments of what it’s like to join Jesus in his work in our daily lives!
Because that’s how simple it is! Jesus began with prayer. Not because he had to check a box to earn the right to hear God’s direction. But because he lived in continuous dependence on the Father.
And it’s THAT simple dependence — beginning with prayer, getting a nudge, OBEYING that nudge to show love and bless the person — THAT’S what made his interactions with others so intentional and life-changing.
That’s what we’re being invited into! Developing the habit of beginning with prayer so that we can be directed by our Heavenly Father. Not so that we can get a “perfect prayer life,” whatever that means.
But so that we can develop the posture of dependence on God: every morning, before the crowds and distractions show up, before the demands start, before we default to whatever is already in front of us.
We begin with prayer so that we can notice the people that God is calling us to bless, because God is already at work ahead of us. He’s already reaching out to them. He’s already pursuing them with his passionate love. And he’s inviting us to be a part of sharing that love so that they can experience the fully alive life that Jesus offers to them and to us.
Isn’t that good news?