When Hudson Taylor went to China, he made the voyage on a sailing vessel. As it neared the channel between the southern Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, the missionary heard an urgent knock on his stateroom door. He opened it, and there stood the captain of the ship. “Mr. Taylor,” he said, “we have no wind. We are drifting toward dangerous reefs, near an island where the people are heathen, and I fear they are cannibals.” “What can I do?” asked Taylor. “I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind.” “All right, Captain, I will, but you must set the sail.” “Why that’s ridiculous! There’s not even the slightest breeze. Besides, the sailors will think I’m crazy.” But finally, because of Taylor’s insistence, he agreed. Forty- five minutes later he returned and found the missionary still on his knees. “You can stop praying now,” said the captain. “We’ve got more wind than we know what to do with!”
-Unknown.
Hudson Taylor and the crew of the Dumfries found themselves in an impossible situation, but through determined prayer, and bold faith, the impossible, became possible.
Today, we speak of the impossible prayer. And to learn more about that, we look to Jesus.
We come to a moment in the life of Jesus, when he had just been teaching a great crowd, and famously multiplied fishes and bread to feed a crowd of thousands. Next we come to a moment that has caused wonder and amazement for endless millions throughout history.
Our scripture today is in Matthew 14:22-33.
Matthew 14:22 says, “22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.”
They were located near the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Chelsey my wife has actually swam in the waters of this very lake. It’s about 8 miles wide and 13 miles long. Still there today. Good reminder that we aren’t studying fiction, but real events.
But today as we focus in on a powerful form of prayer, we’re going to be talking about doing impossible things. Doing things beyond. Doing things that we aren’t presently capable of doing. And we’re going to see that we serve a God who makes the impossible, possible.
So Jesus sends the disciples in a boat, to cross the lake. God often also sends us upon the waters, in uncertain places, to do things we’ve never considered before as well.
Next, verse 23: “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,”
Jesus goes up high on the mountain, to spend time with the Father, late into the night Jesus prays.
It reminds me how Jesus is always interceding for us, before the throne of God. He is always before the Father, in the glory of heaven, making the case for us, helping us, stepping in for us. He is guiding everything in our lives.
It reminds me of a film, a sci fi film with Will Smith, where his young son has to go through dangerous terrain so they can be rescued, and the son is guided by his father who can’t go with him, so he must continuously trust his father’s guidance in a dangerous situation. (After Earth – 2013)
So too we travel a difficult world, and we must trust our Father’s guidance, even though we can’t see him, he is like a voice to us, as we travel this world.
God is not far off, he is with us, and yet, we can’t see Him, so we must rely on His voice in our lives, and His leading, and make the choices he moves us toward. That isn’t always easy.
But today I want to address not just difficult situations, but doing impossible things. Things that are simply beyond what we could imagine that we’re capable of.
Next, the disciples face a challenge on the waters.
Verse 24 “and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.”
A great storm hit the disciples as they traveled together. The wind was against them, and the waves were crashing against the boat. They could not make progress as they traveled on the waters.
They had struck out to do their master’s will, but, the storm had hit, and caused them to be trapped and in danger.
In my life in ministry I’ve faced numerous situations where I felt trapped in a storm and unable to make it through. So many situations where I felt, I simply can’t do that.
One example, math. I had completed every class for my bachelors degree, did about half at university of Wisconsin, other half at Liberty university, I was down to 116 credits, needed 120. But, I was so afraid of the math requirement, I kept avoiding it, until finally, it was the last class, I was about to enter seminary, but I had tested so low in the math pre-tests, that I would have to take 3 other math classes to get to the math class I needed. And I said Lord, what do I do? I’m in big trouble.
Next, verse “25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.”
Jesus comes to rescue the disciples, walking on the surface of the water.
As we pray and cry out to the Lord, Jesus comes to us, walking toward us, on the water of our troubles. He walks on the water of our troubles with complete ease, they have no power over Him, instead he has authority over them.
Picture that thing in your life, that problem that troubles you, whatever it might be, a secret addiction, a health problem, a sin in your life, a family problem, picture it as turbulent waters. And now, picture Jesus walking on those waters toward you. And picture him speaking over the waters, and calming them completely.
Now this has taken us as far as what we discussed last week, seeking God in our sufferings, and finding His help and rescue in those times. That’s a very good and beautiful thing. But today we’re going to take it one step deeper.
Praying through suffering and struggle is a beautiful thing, and it is amazing how God comes and helps us, amen? I love that. He has delivered me so many times I can’t even count and every time I’m amazed.
Jesus shows up, and he comforts us. As it says in verse 27…
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Fear is the key issue here, fear is what disrupts our faith, and disrupts our ability to trust God.
I’ve been learning through some wonderful mentorship that long ago when I was mistreated as a child, I began to embrace a lie that I can’t feel safe, and that I must be anxious and afraid. But that is a lie from the devil. And the Lord is helping me to embrace a new core belief: I am safe in Him.
Fear is the enemy. That’s why the Bible says over and over, “Fear not!”
We must overcome our fear and dare to believe: Jesus is capable.
I was talking to Darlene about her surgery and Pam asked her if she was afraid before going in and Darlene said no, not at all, I know God has me.
We were amazed. But Darlene really believed it so completely, fear simply had no place there. It was just trust and peace.
Is Jesus real in your life? Or does he seem distant? Do you believe you can really trust Him? Or does fear still dominate? God can deliver us from fear.
Take courage, Jesus says, It is I. He’s saying take this courage I’m giving you by my Presence with You. It’s yours, take it. And put it on as your armor. Courage. Reject fear. Look into the eyes of Jesus, and see you’re perfectly safe. Look down at your hand and you’ll see another hand in yours, nail-pierced, the hand of Jesus.
You are safe.
But now, let’s take it deeper. Peter is going to help us see the key truth we want to discover today.
Verse 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
The rest of the disciples are terrified and relieved, at the same time, to see Jesus coming to help them, in the midst of the storm. They’re happy to sit back and let Jesus do whatever he needs to do.
And often those are the kinds of prayers we pray. Lord, I give it all to you, Lord you’ll fight for me, I’m just gonna sit here quietly, I’ll just be still and know. And there are moments for that, for sure. There are seasons for that. But there are also seasons where we need to strike out, move toward what God calling us toward.
When Moses was leading the people out of slavery in Egypt, God led them along a path that seemed to lead to a dead end, and there they were, with a great sea in front of them, and the Egyptian chariots chasing behind at full speed. And the people began to cry out to Moses saying why have you led us here to die in the desert!
And we get that famous scripture, Exodus 14:13-14:
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
The Lord will fight for you, be still! And that’s true. But, notice the next two verse in that scripture.
Verses 15-16: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”
Yes, they stood still as the water was parted, but Moses needed to lift his staff over the sea, and be God’s instrument. Similarly, the people could not just stand there, they needed to begin moving down the pathway God provided.
Get moving!
This is the kind of prayer we’re talking about today. I’m going to call it the prayer of abandon, or the impossible prayer. It’s a prayer that says, Lord, I don’t see a way through, I feel like it’s impossible, but, I believe in you, I abandon myself to you, and I’m going to start moving in that direction you’ve told me to go in, that seems as impossible as walking on water. I can’t see a way, but I trust my Father, so I start moving.
For the Israelites, they could at least see the path form in the waters, to walk on the dry ground. But Jesus wants more from us.
Peter only sees water. And a storm. But, he also sees Jesus walking on that water. And he gets a fundamental truth about the Christian life, he gets it, with Jesus, I can do the things Jesus does, and even greater things. I can walk on water if Jesus commands it.
I can do the impossible, if Jesus commands it.
Does Jesus rebuke Peter, say what are you talking about, only I can walk on water I’m God your not? Nope. Jesus says one word.
Verse 29: “Come,” he said.
Brothers and sisters he’s saying the same thing to us today. Come out on the waters. Believe for the impossible. Strike out and he will see you through. Abandon yourself to God.
“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.”
Peter began walking on the water, above the waves, above the storm, above the obstacles and struggles, Peter, by faith walked, his eyes locked on Jesus, and by faith he walked above the waves.
We can do the same thing. We can walk on the waters.
Peter understood something so simple: I can trust Jesus. And I can walk in that trust.
Many of us trust and wait. That’s good. But can we also trust and move forward in trust?
Yet despite our best efforts to walk in trust, we will sometimes fall short. And so it was for Peter that night.
Verses 30 says, “30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Peter took his eyes off Jesus and begin to look at the danger around him, he began to focus on the problem, instead of the solution. He centered on his fears.
We must keep our eyes on Jesus, the solution, the one with all power.
No judgment on Peter, it’s not easy to focus on Jesus with a storm spinning all around you! But even though Peter became afraid and began to sink, he cried out to the Lord, the most simple request, God please help me!
Next, verse 31: 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Jesus immediately rescued Peter.
He doubted Jesus, but Jesus still rescued Him. God does the same for us. Sometimes as we strike out in faith, doubt begins to seep in, but God helps us in those moments as well. But I think the goal is that we would learn to walk in such faith, that fear simply has no access. It’s locked out. The faith is so strong, we walk upon the water of that impossible task before us.
This is a key reality of the Christian life, that we will face situations that seem beyond our ability. Why is that? Because God is training us to trust in Him and his ability. But also, to walk forward in His strength, abandoning ourselves to Him.
As Peter took those steps forward of faith, God did the rest, he made sure the water held Peter, as Peter held his faith in God and kept his eyes on Jesus.
Next, verse 32 “And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.”
The storm ceases at the coming of Jesus. It reminds me of how, after we’ve struck out in faith, and walked in the strength of God toward whatever impossible thing it is in our lives, we see the victory. The storm is defeated. And we find that the impossible has now become the accomplished victory. And that is such a reward.
I want you to see this in regard to your walk with Christ: What is that thing that you’re afraid to do? That thing that seems just a bit too big for you?
Maybe you’re afraid to pray out loud. You feel embarrassed. But what if you abandoned yourself to God and said you know what, I’m doing it.
Maybe it’s giving your testimony: It feels overwhelming, but you start to pray, and say Lord, I abandon myself to you, and move toward it.
Maybe it’s doing a special song at church, again same thing, abandon yourself to God.
Perhaps the Lord has been tapping your heart to start a ministry, or to serve in some way.
Maybe the Lord has been challenging you to witness to one of your coworkers, time to pray, take a deep breath, and head on over to speak the word.
Maybe it’s something else in your life, something that seems too big, but you can sense God calling you toward it. Make use of the prayer of abandon.
Maybe it’s fasting, you know what, let’s go for it.
It’s a prayer of faith, of trust, a prayer of boldness, a prayer of you, know what, I’m diving in, like the kid at the edge of the pool and he dips his toe in and it’s too cold, but finally he says you know what, let’s go, and he dives in.
You may just find that as you dive in, and get to work, and do your best, the storm around you, that the devil brought to try to scare you away from God’s will, turns out to be much smaller than you thought, and it simply disappears.
These fears we face are prisons often, and they are prisons of lies and deception. They are lying to us, and we don’t have to believe the lie. Jesus can break us from the prison of fear. And he’ll help us to walk on the water with Him.
Verse 33: Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
The disciples believed. They saw Jesus walk on water and they knew: He is the Son of God.
Jesus is capable my friends, entirely sufficient.
Therefore we are capable, if Jesus calls us to it.
Easy to say, harder when we are buffeted by fear and in this life we are buffeted by fear.
Dare to make your prayer, the prayer of abandonment to God.
With God with me, I can walk forward in faith.
With God, I can.
Simple, but not easy. Sometimes it takes an act of courage, I’m stepping out, I’m doing it, pray, and move.
Let’s make our closing prayer, a prayer of abandonment.
Prayer:
Father, we rise up in faith, we believe in your power, we believe you are with us, we believe are capable of doing all things in us, we do not stand still, we move forward in faith, give us faith, we renounce fear, give us courage, we take up courage, Lord, we abandon ourselves to you completely. We don’t doubt you. We believe in you, and we believe in our ability in you, so Lord we strike out in faith, toward that thing we’ve been avoiding, we strike out in faith, we surrender it all to you, guide us God, as we move toward that thing you’ve led us to, in Jesus name, amen.
