How Big is Yours?

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” [Matt 14:29-31]
The headline splashed across the front page of the Sun times last week read, “God Save Us!”.

Today, in America, we need God. Just as Peter needed Jesus 2,000 years ago to rescue him from imminent danger. We not only need God to save us and protect us. We need to know Him, we need His presence, power and love in our lives and in the world to face today. To bring us hope and courage for tomorrow.

On September 11, 2001 – when the World Trade Center exploded, imploded and collapsed, did you feel an overwhelming sense of fear, a reminder of your mortality, of human evil and frailty? Did you wonder, where is God in all of this?

Polls say that 7 out of 10 Americans say they have been depressed since the attacks. The threat of peril has caused over 90% of Americans to turn to God in prayer and petitions. We have been shaken, made aware of our spiritual poverty, our need for answers to life that technology, science, human invention and this world cannot provide.

Atrocities like this bring questions, confusion, fear, doubt and rage. …… hopelessness. Last night I received an anonymous email from someone which read: “please pray for me. I am thinking about committing suicide.”

National Day of Prayer: On September 14, 2001, President Bush called for a National Day of Prayer. At the National Cathedral. Billy Graham spoke:
“Many people are asking, “Are we moving toward the end of the world?” “Are we moving toward the end of the age?” Those questions are haunting people everywhere today.
We pick up our morning newspaper and see the headlines, or we watch the news on television, and we ask the question, “What is the world coming to?”
In the midst of the pessimism, the gloom and the frustration of this present hour, there is one hope — the promise of Christ. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again” (John 14:3, KJV). Jesus died upon the cross, rose again from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. And the next great event is His coming back. That is the hope of the Church and the hope of the Christian believer. Without hope, our world could not go on.”

In planning this talk, I looked back on my life for “mountains” I have faced. Mountains that only God could help me handle…. surgery, divorce of my parents, death of loved ones, and more. All of the trials I have faced pale in comparison with this “mountain” of terrorism and impending war How can we face this? What can we do? Truly this is one catastrophe that only God can handle.

That is why our nation has turned in droves to God in prayer. These tragic events have reminded us of how much we need God. This world is a dangerous place. A place filled with evil and evil-doers. We are reminded that this world really does not and will never provide lasting security or fill our deepest longings….. No matter how much we spend, eat, enjoy, love and laugh, we know this world will not last! Our deepest longings for hope, security, eternity, can only be met by God.

The author of Psalm 77, when he faced enemies who sought to destroy him wrote: I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

We pray because of Who God is– infinite and who we are- finite…. Only God who is eternal, holy, just, all-powerful, all-knowing, faithful, loving, the creator, the redeemer, the Savior can intervene and change the course of events of a nation or in our lives. Our God is a refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. .. Psa. 46.

We pray because the evidence of God’s work in the world reveals His character. Remembering His works reminds us that God is faithful and that God answers prayer. Remembering God’s greatest work, greatest gift…. when He sacrificed His only Son to pay for the sins of the world.. renews our hope and faith.

What great hope we have for the future. Even when this world passes away, as a Christian, you can be certain you will live forever because Jesus said: John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Now, is the time, to be certain of your eternal destiny. Today you can call on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you and change you. To prepare for eternity. John 3:16 says: for God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes on Him might have eternal life.

Now is the time to turn back to Christ if you as a Christian have turned your back on Him. Come home, believer, come home.
Jesus said that we only need a mustard seed of faith….to move a mountain. Matt. 17: 20: I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Jesus said: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” And. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Why? Because our God is a Mountain-mover.

What to do when you are overwhelmed by trials and fear? How can you and I have faith when “mountains of pain and fear”, loss and grief, conflict and even terrorism confront us?
I’m here to urge you to pray. Because we have a God who loves us. A God who can save us. A God who is infinite, loving and all-powerful. So, we can pray…..Simply pray. Pray because God can be trusted.

How big is your mountain? I answer with this question: Is anything too hard for our Mountain-moving God? It is He alone who is sovereign, mighty, faithful, hears our prayers and considers our petitions.

President Bush said: . “War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. Our purpose as a nation is firm. Yet our wounds as a people are recent and unhealed, and lead us to pray.”

Eph 3:14-21 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Billy Graham writes:
“God is here. God is not on a mountain. God is not on a star.
God is right here on this earth, and God is close to each of us..
He is with us in our loneliness.
He can help us in our trials.
He can take away our sorrow.
He can give answers to the mysteries & the problems of life.”
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Maybe you have questions about Christianity or would like to know more about how to have a relationship with Christ. Or maybe you have enough understanding and would like to make a decision to trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior today. I hope that my story has given you some inspiration and hope to search for God & grow in your faith.
The salvation Christ offers does not depend on what we have done for Him, but on our acceptance in who He is and what He has done for us. Instead of moral and religious effort, this salvation requires a helpless admission of our sins. Instead of personal accomplishments, it requires confession of failure to meet God’s standard of holiness. Unlike all other belief systems, Christ asks us to trust solely in Him and His work on the cross and to commit our lives to Him–not to merit salvation but as an expression of gratitude, love, and confidence in the One who has saved us solely by grace (the unmerited favor of God).
Eph 2:8-9 says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast”.(NIV)
Rom 6:23 says:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(NIV)

Won’t you consider asking Christ into your life today. Just pray simply with me: “Dear Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life and make me the kind of person You want me to be. Amen.”

If you have prayed this prayer Jesus says in Matt. 20:28: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)
If you have prayed this prayer please contact Lynette J. Hoy and she will send you the free book, Anchor for the Soul.

©2015 by Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC