“Preparing Our Hearts for Easter”

“Preparing Our Hearts for Ea= ster”

Heather Spencer<= /b>

Healing Service

March 29, 2009 <= /i>

First United Methodist Church

1100 Central Avenue

Hot Springs, AR 71913=

You know= how when you have little children around … you have to teach them how to speak? Right? We’re not born knowing how to speak. We have to be taught h= ow to speak. So, as babies inch the= ir way toward the one year mark and keep growing into their second and third years= of life, the adults in their lives get busy trying to teach them how to speak. In the beginning, we s= tart by teaching them simple sounds like “ma” or “da.” A little further down the road, we= teach them to add those simple sounds together to make simple words like “mama” or “dada.”&= nbsp; They go on to learn a whole host of words. Then later in their speech develop= ment, we teach them to put words together into short, simple sentences. These short sentences orient them = to the world around them and help add meaning to their lives, and they end-up know= ing how to speak sentences like “mama loves you,” “dada loves you,” or “Jesus loves you.” Even later in their speech develop= ment, we teach our children how to string even more words together to make even m= ore complicated sentences. It is = in this stage of development that we can begin to teach our children how to pr= ay and that, too, can add meaning to their lives and orient them to the world around them. We teach them sh= ort, simple prayers like a mealtime blessing prayer. We also teach them how to speak to= God at bedtime and how to ask for God’s blessing and guidance.

            <= /span>Well, I would like for you to keep this idea in the back of your mind throughout today’s message. Keep i= n mind this idea that human beings have to be taught how to speak. We need language to be modeled for us. In particular, keep in mi= nd this idea that we all need people in our lives who will teach us (or model = for us) how to speak to God. We n= eed people to teach us how to pray. We need people who will model for us how to ask God for what we need and how to talk to God about the guilt we carry around. We need people who will teach us h= ow to ask for forgiveness for our wrong doings.&= nbsp; We also need people in our lives who will model for us Utter and Complete Trust in God. We need trust in God modeled for us so that we, too, can learn how to trust God and= how to speak to Him out of that loving and trusting relationship.

            <= /span>This is exactly what the psalms do for us! The authors of the psalms teach us, and model for us, how to come be= fore the throne of God in prayer. = The psalm authors how us how to speak our hearts, needs, and desires to God. The psalms are a true gift to us no matter what age we are. We al= l need people in our lives who will help us learn to better communicate with God a= nd how to more fully trust God. = Today I want us to look at Psalm 51 (a psalm that tradition holds was written by David), because this psalm is particularly helpful as a model for how to sp= eak to God and trust in God during the season of Lent.

            <= /span>Lent is a period of 40 days leading up to Easter in which Christians are challen= ged to “prepare for Easter.” No, I am not talking about preparing for Easter by finding the perfe= ct pastel yellow dress or tie. I’m also not talking about preparing for Easter by getting all= the good chocolate goodies for the Easter basket. – Rather, during these 40 da= ys of Lent, we Christians are asked to “Prepare Our Hearts For Easter!” If we were preparing for a vacatio= n, there would be things we would need to do to prepare for our trip. Likewise, there are some things we= need to do to prepare our hearts for Easter during the season on Lent.

I want to suggest two thi= ngs this morning that we can do to Prepare Our Hearts For Easter on this 5^{th
Sunday of Lent:}

1.&n= bsp;    One thing we can do is to take a look at what Easter is…

o   &nb= sp; What are we preparing our hearts for?

o   &nb= sp; What is in store for us if we do prepare our hearts for Easter?<= /p>
2.&n= bsp;    Then, I would like for us to look to King David because, in this psalm, he models for us the kinds of things we need to do = to prepare our hearts for Easter. I want us to study his language and let him teach us how to speak to God to prepare our hearts.

So, what is Easter? <= /b>What are we preparing for during Lent?

Well, in= a word, we are preparing our hearts for He= aling! During Lent, we are preparing our = hearts for Resurrection to new life!!! We are getting our hearts ready to experience and receive healing! A little over 2,000 years ago R= 30; Jesus took our sins onto Himself, He (along with our sins) was nailed to the cross – killed and buried. But, on that Easter morning … there was Resurrection to new life! There was Restoration!<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Sin was dead and its power was broken! On Easter … there was Healing!!! And, that is what we are called to prepare our hearts for during Lent. We are called to prepare our hearts for healing!!!

So, great! Great, we’re supposed to prepare our hearts for healing during the season of Lent…but HOW??? How do = we go about preparing our hearts???

This is = where David can help us; he can be our teacher.&= nbsp; Let’s examine his words to God in this prayer and see how he g= ot his heart ready for God’s healing.

If you k= now anything about Lent, you know it calls us to examine ourselves (to examine = our hearts). And, David did this!= David looked deep into his own hea= rt and soul and saw the yuck that lived there … and then he talked to God ab= out it.

            <= /span>

Listen to David’s p= rayer to God:

In this prayer, David pleads with God to have mer= cy on him.

He asks God to wipe away his offenses.

He tells God straight-up that he knows he has sinned…he knows he has displeased and disappointed God by doing what is evil in God’s sight.

He asks God to purify him of his sins because his sins are haunting him day and night.

David l= ooks deep inside of himself – sees the yuck within – and then he tal= ks to God about that yuck inside of him. That is what we need to do to prepare our hearts for Easter healing! And, David can be our teacher and model for how to go about speaking these kinds of confessions to God. We can follow his exampl= e in this prayer and examine our own lives for sinful, hurtful, unhealthy stuff going= on inside each of us that we need to talk to God about and bring to him for Ea= ster healing.

Is there anything going on in your live = today for which you feel a weight of guilt that haunts you day and night? Perhaps you feel a weight of guilt= for unhealthy lifestyle choices that hurt you and others around you. Maybe you’re currently makin= g some unhealthy and harmful choices that displease God because they damage your l= ife and health and harm your body (your temple of God)…and t= he weight of guilt of those choices is always on your mind. Perhaps you carry weight of guilt = for harmful choices and actions in relationships in your life – and these choices are hurting innocent people…and the guilt is consuming you. There are many different harmful, = sinful kinds of things that could be going on in people’s lives here today – things for which any one of us could be carrying a load of guilt.
      I pray that= you will follow David’s example this morning. I pray that you will talk to God in your prayer time he= re this morning. Dig deep into y= our heart and soul – see where you are in need of God’s healing = 211; and then ask for it! David has modeled for us a willingness to speak to God about our needs for healing, a= nd his is an example we can follow. He can teach us and model for us how to go about speaking our confession and o= ur needs to God. This is importa= nt work to do. Self-examination = and confession are integral parts of Lent.&nbs= p; We are not prepared for healing without doing these things.

&n= bsp;

For some people, the task of looking within and confessing the sin found inside may be the more difficult of the t= wo tasks. However, for other peo= ple, what may be more difficult may be the task of believing and trusting wholeheartedly that God CAN and WILL forgive and heal you. Again, this is where David can help us. David can teach us how to= speak to God. He can teach us how t= o ask God for forgiveness and healing, and he can teach us how to trust God to respond to our prayers. David models for us an Absolute Trust in= God, and we can learn how to relate= to God in that same way by letting David’s psalm teach us how to pray! H= ave you ever heard the phrase, “fake it ‘till you make it?” If you don’t know much about= God and His healing power, or if you have trouble trusting Him with the “yuck” you see inside yourself (trusting in His power to heal y= ou) … then just pray David’s prayer as your own until you begin to = feel and trust the things David is saying about God and to God in this prayer. This psalm, or prayer, of David can teach us a lot about God.

David k= nows some fundamental truths about the character and nature of God! If you look at the words spoken in= this prayer, you will notice that David speaks about what he knows and believes = to be true about God even before he speaks about his own sin.

&n= bsp;

LetR= 17;s listen, again, to what David teaches us about in the language of this praye= r to God:

<= span style=3D'font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New"'><= span style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>o&nb= sp;     In verse 1, we see that David knows God to be abundantly merciful.

<= span style=3D'font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New"'><= span style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>o&nb= sp;     Further, David knows that God never, ever, e= ver fails in His love for us.

= <= span style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>o&nb= sp;     David is profoundly aware that we can never = be so full of yuck that God will not love us and be merciful to us.

<= span style=3D'font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New"'><= span style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>o&nb= sp;     David knows not only that God CAN and WILL forgive him of his sins that haunt him … but David knows that GOD DES= IRES TO HEAL AND RESTORE HIM!

<= span style=3D'font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New"'><= span style=3D'mso-list:Ignore'>o&nb= sp;     David knows that God desires truth in our inward being, and he knows that God is wil= ling and able to teach us wisdom Deep Within so that Truth (not deceit and guilt) will live inside us!

!!! David knows that it is God’s Greatest Desire that we should live clean, purified, truth-filled lives!

!!! David knows that it is God’s Greatest Desire to grant us Easter Healing!!!<= o:p>

In the famous 10^th verse of this psalm prayer, David begs God to give him a clean heart. This tells us that David KNEW= and BELIEVED that God is willing – even EAGER – to reach into = our inmost being and re-create our hearts.

That is what Easter Heali= ng is all about … Newness of Life!!! David trusts God to give him a new, fresh, clean start!   That’s Easter!!!

??? – Are WE ready to receive God’s gracious gift of Easter Healing?

??? – Are OUR hearts prepare= d for Easter?

I invite you to prepare Y= OUR heart for Easter Healing this morning.&nbs= p; And, you don’t have to wait until the day we actually celebrate Easter (April 12^th) to claim that healing!

Our God is ALWAYS in the = business of Re-Creating and Healing!!!

Every Sunday, as they say= , is a little Easter!

God is willing Right Now = to hear you as you speak your confession.

And, God is willing, able= , and EAGER to heal and restore you today!

Healing Service Invitation:

In a moment, you will be given an opportunity to come forward and be anointed with oil for healing. You will simply come to one of the anointing stations at the front of the sanctuary. Several people will lay their hand= s on you and pray for you silently as your forehead in anointed with oil. After you have received your anoin= ting, you may choose to kneel at the altar for silent prayer. You may signal your desire for a p= astor to pray with you by cupping your hands in front of you as you kneel.

Now…

I bid you to come forward= with the confidence that you are a much-loved child of God.

Come and prepare your hea= rts for Easter!

Speak your confession of sin to God.

Boldly ask for not only forgiveness, but also ask= for a clean, new, and right heart.

Trust that God’s love never fails and that = He has heard your prayer!

Come and Receive Healing!

In the name of the Father= , and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen